The Firsts
by Lord Jaric
Summary: Ichigo and his friends have faced many threats in their short time involved with the Soul Society, now they face a new threat, an enemy more powerful than any before, the First Hollow.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This is my first fanfic ever. I hope I did well, if not tell me where I need to improve (ex. details and character). I kind of don't like the name, but I couldn't of anything else. Romance may be added on as a genre later, not sure it will be very big yet to consider it.

_(Chapter Revised)_

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

When humans first walked the earth there were no soul reapers or hollows, when humans died there souls would move on to next plane of existence or remain behind till they moved on or faded away. Then it happened, two humans, who died at the exact same time, whose souls seem to have developed a connection to the other world in life, they were the first, the first soul reaper and the first hollow. Unaware of the power they now had they stayed with one another and traveled the land together. Over the years they slowly started to realize, that through their resurrection, not only could they now continue with their lives, but could live indefinitely for they no longer aged.

However as the years went on the hollow felt something strange, he felt hungry, no matter how much he ate he felt hungry all the time. He couldn't explain it, it was never ending. One day when he was on his own he came across a soul, an unbelievable urge overcame him. He lunged at the soul and devoured it while it screamed for mercy. His hunger seem to lessen, but something else now was growing within him, he didn't know what it was but he didn't care what the new feeling was for he could finally end his hunger.

One day the soul reaper witnessed the hollow devouring a soul, he urged that the hollow should contain his hunger and let the souls move on with their existence. The hollow could not believe what his lifelong comrade was saying, to give up what was lessening his hunger which he was sure would consume him if he didn't satisfy it. Then it snapped; the feelings that had been building in him with each soul he ate, sorrow, pain, and anger. He look at his now former comrade, his soul look and smelled so different from the other souls, he craved the soul reaper so severely that he attacked.

Almost taken by complete surprised by his friend's attack he was able to defend himself just in time. He saw the hunger in his friend's eyes; he could feel his body shaking for it urges to be satisfied. They fought each other for days, the land scape scared by the battle. They both had exhausted their reiatsu. They could not continue their battle they retreated away from each other but their conflict was far from over. Over the millenias they would have many battles; their reiatsu so intense that it affected the souls of others, new soul reapers and hollows raised up. The soul reapers would gather in the afterlife and create the Soul Society, while the hollows entered their new world of Hueco Mundo,

Finally the personal war between the two firsts was over, the hollow on his knees and the soul reaper standing tall. The soul reaper raised his blade to deliver the final strike, but he couldn't finish it. Was it because he was the first of his kind, was it because his actions had only been done out of instinct, or was it because he had been his friend for countless years; no one knows. So he chose to seal him away and that is the last that was known of the first soul reaper and hollow. No one knows what happen to the soul reaper, some say he just disappeared after the final battle others say he still walks the earth waiting possibly for a way to save his friend.

"That is absolutely ridiculous", a carrot top boy said.

"What do you mean ridiculous", the raven haired girl yelled? "This story is the most well-known story of the Soul Society. It explains our origins; how we gained our powers. How dare you call it ridiculous?" This was Rukia's favorite story she was not about to let Ichigo just brush it off as nothing.

"Yeah, yeah, every culture has some kind of origin story. What's ridiculous is that this guy was a soul reaper, why didn't he just finish the hollow off; he would have freed him right, soul reapers purify hollow with their zanpakutōs don't they, so why didn't he just do that?"

"Well… uh, I don't know this story is thousands of years old it may have picked up a few embellishments over time. Maybe he didn't know he had that power he was on his own the whole time."

"If he had been on his own the whole time how did the other soul reapers find out about him?" Rukia didn't know what to say to that, the story had been around so long that no one knew its origins. "That's what I thought, oh and by the way, your drawings didn't help at all. Two years and you still suck at drawing. Ouch!" Rukia threw her notebook at him so hard out of frustration that it left a mark on his face.

"Well, I thought you story was great Rukia," a long auburn haired girl commented, hoping to ease the rising tension between her friends.

"Thank you Orihime," Rukia thanked her close friend. "At least someone can appreciate my story." She decided to stab that last bit in.

"It was interesting to say the least," the quincy added pushing up his glasses while the giant next to him remained his quite usual self.

"Well it did make for a nice campfire story," a spiky raven haired girl who sat next to Orihime gave her thoughts on Rukia's tale. The six friends of Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa, Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and Rukia Kuchiki sat around a small fire in a forest far from their home town. Rukia, who had not seen her friends in so long, was able to get some time off, and with the help of her captain, and secretly from her brother was able to get some time off and go to the human world to see them. As they were reminiscing on the past, Rukia decided to tell them of the tale of the first soul reaper and hollow, their response was less then what she was expecting. They continued to sit around the fire in silence, enjoying the peace that had so long been denied to them.

"Looks like we are running low on wood," Chad said as he started to get up.

"Don't worry about it, they should be back very…," Ichigo started to say.

"ICHI…argh," the brown haired hyper active boy ran into Ichigo's raised fist and fell backwards onto the ground, along with all the wood he had been carrying.

"Yo Keigo." Keigo could only respond with a moan of pain from under the logs.

"I warned you not to sneak up on him Mr. Asano," a black haired short boy said as he came up from behind.

"Quite being so formal Mizuiro." Keigo complained as he slowly got up.

"Do you have so loud, we were doing just fine till you showed up," Uryū said with annoyance.

"You guys suck." The rest of the night went off without a hitch, with the occasional banter, smores, and stories, everything a normal campout had. But that normalcy would soon be shattered.

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><p>In the dark recesses of an unknown dimension a dark sphere started to ripple. The ripples grow in number and speed. The sphere started to lose its shape, a bulge would rise out of the sphere then sink back in, then another one would rise on another part of the sphere. Something was trying to breakout. Something old. Something powerful.<p>

The sphere began to crack. The cracks spread across the sphere like fault lines on the globe. It shattered, into thousands of pieces that disintegrated in midair, while what the sphere had been containing fell to the ground. It tried to get up, its whole body shaking as it struggled to stand before collapsing back to the ground.

_How long._ It thought. _How long have I been imprisoned? Hundreds, thousands of years? Aware of this empty void, unable to move. All because of a betrayal. Because of… because of…_ It couldn't even think of them without its anger rise. Its anger gave it the strength it need. It picked itself off the ground and thrust its hand forward ripping through an invisible fabric. It tore the fabric open revealing a lush and colorful world on the other side. The smell of the world flared into its nostrils. It wanted to satisfy its anger, but it had to satisfy its hunger first.

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><p><strong>AN:** Well there is my first story, I hope you like it so far. If I need to improve on my writing please tell me.


	2. Fading Peace

**A/N:** Well here's the second chapter, mostly fluffy. I hope you enjoy.

_(Chapter Revised)_

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><p><strong>Fading Peace<strong>

She was the first one to get up that morning. She rubbed her eyes and sat up taking in her surroundings. She laid in a pink sleeping bag in a small dome tent, big enough to fit three people comfortably. Her two raven haired roommates, or in this case, tent-mates, laid sound asleep in their sleeping bags. The sound of chirping birds was abundant outside and the tent was diming lit from the light that was just starting to welcome the open sky. As quietly as she could she unzipped her sleeping bag, dug through bag for new cloths for the day, unzipped the tent door and walked out into the cool morning air.

She took in the fresh moist morning air and stretched her limbs out. She looked around at the three small tents that contained the boys who were still sleeping from the long night. Ichigo and Uryū had somehow worked out a deal to sleep in the same tent, probably to avoid dealing with Keigo who shared his tent with Mizuiro, while Chad being so big had his own tent. The sight of the lightly smoking fire pit brought back the memories of the fun night they all had. She looked up into the partly cloudy sky that was slowly lighting up. She now wondered what to do next, she was so use to getting up early on her own that she only had to get ready for the day for herself, but now she was out with all her close friends that there was more to consider. She pondered until it came to her, she would make breakfast for everyone.

She walked over to the cooler and started to look through its contents. She decided on eggs, bacon, and bread to turn into toast, a normal breakfast. She wasn't stupid, she knew that her taste were… somewhat different from everyone else's, Rangiku was the only person who shared her taste in food. She grabbed the grill pan and took it over to the gas stove and started to cook breakfast for everyone. While she was cooking memories of the previous night began to flood her mind. She, Tatsuki and Rukia had gone to their tent while the guys went to theirs. Rukia decided to start a conversation instead of going to bed.

_flashback_

"So, now that it is just the three of us how about a little girl talk," Rukia asked while turning on the lantern? "So Orihime has that knucklehead finally realized how you feel about him yet."

"What… what are you talking about, who are you talking about," Orihime stuttered?

"Ichigo of course you idiot, has that moron finally realized how you feel about him?"

"Well… ah… you see… um… no, he hasn't."

"You're joking," Rukia almost yelled, only the knowledge of the others in their tents kept her voice down! "Please tell me she is joking," she asked Tatsuki, who could only give a shrug? Rukia smacked her palm into her forehead. "That idiot. Two years and he says that my drawings are still bad when that idiot hasn't realized what is right in front of him."

"Rukia," Orihime complained!

"She's right Orihime. Ichigo is capable of many things, but seeing love is not one of them," Tatsuki finally decided to join in on the conversation knowing how Orihime would get flustered from the teasing. Orihime on the other hand was not enjoying it one bit. Her two closest friends wouldn't let up, they kept of barraging her with her greatest weakness, she had to change the subject, or better yet the target.

"Well, what about you Rukia?" Orihime asked.

"What do you mean, what about me," she asked raising her eyebrows?

"Well you and Renji always seemed close. Has anything happened between you two happened yet?" Rukia's face turned a red at Orihime's inquiry.

"What… what are you talking about, there is nothing between us."

"What's this," Tatsuki's interest now peaked; she had always known about Orihime's feelings but not so much about Rukia's. "There's a guy you like?"

"I said there is nothing between us," Rukia insisted!

"Really, then why are you so flustered," Tatsuki pointed out.

"Well… uh, well what about you?" Rukia asked, to which Tatsuki only smiled.

"I don't have the same problems you two have." Their conversation soon ended and they went to sleep for the remainder of the night.

_/flashback_

Orihime continued to make breakfast as she thought about last night. They had so much fun last night that if felt like ages since they could relax. They got to discuss about normal things that they never got to discuss before due to the constant fights and training. A normal life, a peaceful life, a life they had always wanted. The first patch of food was almost done, now she had to figure out how to wake everyone up.

_Maybe I could use one of those triangle bells. _She thought as she grabbed another shelled egg. _No, we don't have one of those. I could just call out to everyone, but where would be the fun in that. Oh, I know I could…_

"Orihime," A voice came up from behind her?

"Eek," she jumped, fumbling with the egg that she had nearly dropped. She turned around to see none other than the man she loved.

"I… Ichigo? You're up."

"Yeah, uh, what are you doing?"

"Um, making breakfast." She immediately saw the worried look in his eyes. "Yep, eggs, bacon and toast." With that he had calmed down, "Now the others just have to get up."

"I'll take care of that."

"Alright." _Ichigo should be able to find a nice way to…_

"Hey everyone get your asses up; breakfast is ready," He yelled!

_Guess not._ She thought with a laugh. The others had gotten out of their tents with great reluctance. Once they got to the picnic table and began to eat they started to fully wake up. Everyone comment on Orihime's cooking, to which they were surprised to find was normal. Rukia saw this as a chance for some payback. She leaned a bit closer to Orihime so she could whisper so the others wouldn't hear.

"I bet you can't wait to do this every day for Ichigo, can't you." Orihime's face turned a bright red that overtook her hair.

"Orihime are you feeling ok," Ichigo asked? "You look like you have a fever."

"N…no, I'm perfectly fine." She answered while flapping her arms. Rukia only smiled; Orihime may have delayed her victory last night, but she had the last laugh.

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><p>He slowly walked through the forest; how long had he been wondering he thought. Days, years. It was stupid really, how he died, he had years of experience, and he died from a stupid mistake. He was… had been a logger. He had been cutting down trees for years, to have one fall on him was… embarrassing to say the least. He tried to communicate with people he saw, but none of them could see him. How much longer could he go on before he would go insane?<p>

"Finally," a voice said. "A soul. It has been far too long and my hunger must be satisfied." He started to tremble. The voice came from behind him and filled him with fear. He could turn around to see who the voice came from, but his body told him to do something else. _Run!_ And so he ran, he kept on running, but the voice followed him, filled with laughter. He screamed for help even though he knew no one would hear him. He tripped over his own feet and hit the ground hard. A figure stood over with a sadistic smile on his face. "Time to feed." He let a scream the filled the forest with fear.

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><p>"Did you hear that," Uryū asked?<p>

"Of course I heard it, how could I not," Ichigo answered. The two rivals had been out on wood duty, when a sickening scream filled the air. They had dropped the wood they had been carrying because right after the scream came a cold reiatsu that disappeared just as quickly "We better hurry." They both sped to the source of where the cold air had come from. What they found did not board well. A pool of blood. Uryū bent down and touched the blood.

"This is definitely the blood of a soul," Uryū said. "I can feel the fear it had." He immediately started to look around, Ichigo caught on.

"But there is no sign of a hollow anywhere, so what attacked it."

"Hollow? Is that what those pathetic creatures are called?" The voice stopped them cold. Ichigo slowly turned around and what he saw he could not comprehend. A long dark haired blue eyed man in ragged clothes stood on top of a tree trunk and looked down on them. At first he thought he was looking at an arrancar, but something was wrong, he had no mask, whole or broken, he had no hole, but he felt like a hollow, so what was he. "Such powerful souls coming from living humans, you should prove to be most satisfying." _With souls like these I should regain my power far more quickly, unlike with that pervious soul, and there are more nearby. My revenge will soon be at hand_.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hope you enjoyed. It may be a while before I start working on the next chapter comes out. I want to see where Ichigo's new powers go before I start any fights.** Edit: **This chapter was made shortly after Ichigo had gained his final fullbringer upgrade.


	3. The First Hollow

**Author note:** This was made a little sooner then I was planning because I'm trying to set this after the Fullbringer arc but things are taking so long in the current arc I decided to go ahead and make this chapter, enjoy.

_(Chapter Revised)_

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><p><strong>The First Hollow<strong>

_What was taking those two so long? _Tatsuki thought. _It couldn't possibly take that long for those two to find some wood; probably getting into another argument, boys. _Japan's second strongest girl was standing up against a tree pondering what to do while she waited for Orihime and Rukia who were getting into some running clothes; the three of them had decided to go for a run to pass the time. So much had happened recently that they all needed to clear their heads with this relaxing camp out. As great as it was to see Rukia after almost two years, they were all still recovering from the Fullbringer incident that had shaken them all; Ichigo, Orihime and Chad needed this trip more than anyone. Ichigo needed it for he had to witnesses what had happened to all of them; Orihime and Chad need it for they had come close to having a full mental breakdown. Her thoughts were broken when she heard someone complaining.

"Come on Chad I was just walking around," she heard Keigo's voice. "So can you please put me down now?" Tatsuki decided to investigate what all the fuss was about.

"You weren't walking around, you were sneaking around," Chad answered back. Tatsuki arrived at the spot the two were at, facing Chad's back.

"Ok ok, you caught me; I was just going sneak a little peek."

"That's the problem."

"You were going to sneak peek at what," Tatsuki asked joining in the conversation? Chad turned around to face her while holding Keigo up in the air by the collar of the back of his shirt.

"Oh…, hey there Tatsuki," She could see him starting to sweat bullets. "Um…, nothing, me and Chad… ah… we were just practicing a skit… yeah that's what we were doing." He smiled with worry, unfortunately for him Tatsuki didn't buy his excuse for one second, and Chad's silence only confirmed it. She snapped were knuckles so loudly that made Keigo jump, an amazing feat considering he was still being held in midair.

"What were you going to sneak a peek at," She said with authority, Keigo only sweated more as he was too scared to think of another lie. So he shakily raised his hand to point at the dome tent.

"Rukia and… and Or… Ori," he was going to regret finishing that sentence, "Orihime." Tatsuki's fist instantly smashed into his face, it happened so fast that he didn't even see her move. His hands instantly covered his face as he whined in pain; normally he would have been sent flying back but with Chad holding him he wasn't going anywhere.

"You fucking pervert," she yelled. "I'm going to beat the living crap out of you." But before she could swing another punch a heavy pressure came down on them. It chilled her to the bone, Keigo's body stiffened and Mizuiro, who had been watching the whole affair, fell to his knees; the pressure soon let up. Rukia, already back in her soul reaper body, and Orihime came running out of their tent towards them.

"Chad," Rukia yelled! Chad slowly set Keigo down.

"I know," Chad answered.

"Let's move. Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, stay here." She, Chad, and Orihime began to run off towards the source of the cold reiatsu.

"Orihime," Tatsuki called out to her best friend. Orihime stopped in her tracks and turned around to face her longtime friend. "Please be careful." Orihime gave her kind and gentle smile.

"Don't worry Tatsuki I will; you stay save as well." She then turned around to chase after Rukia and Chad as Tatsuki watched on; after years of protecting her, Orihime was now capable of defending herself; to which Tatsuki smiled.

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><p>Ichigo and Uryū look at the man standing before them trying to figure out what he was. Was he some kind of new breed of hollow, a buried secret experiment by Aizen or a higher stage above an arrancar; whatever he was, he looked completely human but felt like a hollow. They had to do something; they could feel the murderous intent flowing off of him. The man's clothes look old and ragged and were covered in fresh blood. There was no doubt in their minds that this man was responsible to what had happened here.<p>

"Who are you," Uryū asked? "What are you?"

"What am I? That's a good question," the dark haired blue eyed man answered. "Judging by what the orange hair kid said, I'm a hollow;" He then gave a menacing smile, "the first hollow to be exact." Their eyes widened at the sudden revelation, this man, this hollow, was the one from Rukia's story last night A story that they took as a myth; turned out to be real. "As for whom I am, that is unimportant, for soon you will die, I will devour your souls and gain more power; taking one step closer to my revenge against them."

"Do you really think we are going to make it easy for you," Ichigo said.

"You are mere humans, what power could you have," he said with a laugh. He stopped laughing when he saw a blue light expanded out from the raven haired boy's right wrist forming what looked like a circle with an x in the middle and a cross with each end extending out every ninety degrees. He looked on in surprise, what kind of power was this, it wasn't like his or theirs.

"I am no mere human, I am a quincy. And if you really are a hollow then I will take you down."

"I'm no mere human either," Ichigo said as he reached into his pocket. His eyes widened; it wasn't there. He checked his other pocket but it wasn't their either. He started to pat all around his waist but he couldn't find it. _Shit where is it._

"What the hell are you doing Ichigo," Uryū asked.

"My badge, I think I forgot it back at the campsite."

"You what!" he yelled. "How the hell could you forget your badge, you should have it on you at all times."

"Shut up, I've had a lot on my mind lately so I must have forgotten to grab it when I woke up this morning. Besides it's not like I'm supposed to expect an attack from a hollow every minute."

"You idiot, you got distracted and forgot you badge, you should always, ALWAYS be prepared for a hollow attack."

"All for cry out loud you're starting to sound like my dad when he tries to attack me every morning when I wake up and every time I walk through the front door."

"Are you actually comparing me to you father, I'm nothing like him." The First Hollow could only stare dumbfounded at what he was seeing. Thousands of years and humans were still bickering over the smallest of things. Could it really be this easy; he started to worry when he saw the blue thing, he was still severely lacking his full power after his long containment, but with these two bickering they were easy pickings. He was about to make his move when a bolt of blue energy came at him. He quickly jumped of the tree trunk he was on as the blue bolt struck the trunk snapping it off of the tree, landing on the ground he could only stare at the boy who shot at him, he was fast, very fast. "Don't assume for one second I forgot about you, hollow."

_It's a bow._ The First Hollow thought. _An interesting ability he has, long distance would give him an advantage against many opponents, but I'm fast as well._ He made his move quickly preparing to strike from behind. He got behind him ready to strike only to find himself staring back into the boy's blue eyes. _What?_

"Not very fast are you." The First Hollow saw that the boy already had pulled pack on his bow readying another arrow. He quickly jumped back as the arrow came at him barley missing him. _What's going on? _Uryū asked himself. _If this guy was the First Hollow then he should be very powerful. _Then he remembered what he said before. _'I will devour your souls and gain more power.' He doesn't have his full strength. In Rukia's story she said he had been sealed away, could he have just gotten free. _The hollow used sonído, Uryū saw where he was going. "ICHIGO…" But it was too late; Ichigo was sent flying into a tree.

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><p>She found it a lot easier to run in these clothes then the normal long skirts she wore. Orihime was doing a good job keeping up with Rukia and Chad. But then she felt it. Orihime stopped running the moment she felt the shift in Ichigo's reiatsu.<p>

"Orihime, what is it," Rukia asked stopping her run when she noticed Orihime had stopped? She saw the worried look on Orihime face. "Orihime?"

"It's Ichigo," she finally answered, "He's hurt."

"We better hurry," Chad said and they continued their run to assist Ichigo and Uryū.

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><p>He continued to dodge every arrow fired at him, he may not have his full power but he still had enough speed to avoid the raven haired boy's attacks. With the other boy out of the way he didn't have to worry about his power, whatever it was. Tree branches and trunks were spread out across the area snapped by Uryū's attacks. The First Hollow wasn't even breaking a sweat but neither was Uryū.<p>

_This is taking too long._ The First Hollow thought. _And the other spiritual entities are on their way. At my current level I can't take all of them on._ He raised his hand into the air as a red ball of energy formed in it.

_A cero. _Uryū thought as he prepared to dodge the attack, but instead of aiming it at him, the First Hollow fired at the ground underneath himself. The resulting explosion picked up a large amount of dirt that blocked Uryū's view of him. Once the dust settled he was gone. Uryū looked around but couldn't see him, he couldn't even sense him; he was hiding his reiatsu perfectly.

"Uryū," he turned around to see Chad, Rukia and Orihime running towards him.

"What the hell happened," Rukia asked? "And where's Ichigo?" Uryū pointed towards a busted tree where Ichigo was lying face down. Orihime already reached him and summoned her Sōten Kisshun.

"Ori… Orihime," Ichigo struggled to look up?

"Try not to move Ichigo; I'll get you healed up soon." With that said he relaxed a bit while he felt pain in his back fading.

"Uryū, what happened," Rukia asked again. Uryū quickly explained their encounter with the First Hollow. Rukia couldn't believe it, he was real; the hollow from the story of _The Firsts_ was real. Although it was her favorite story of the Soul Society, a part of her never really believed it was true, that it was just a myth to try and explain how everything started, like Ichigo said last night, an origin story.

"We are going to have to be careful," Uryū began to explain. "If he really is not at his full power he could prove to be more dangers the next time we encounter him."

"We'll be ready next time he shows up," Ichigo said coming up from behind after Orihime had healed him.

"Says the idiot who forgot his badge," Uryū commented. He immediately heard the sound of someone smacking someone else.

"Rukia," Orihime complained! "I just finished healing him."

"You idiot," Rukia yelled at Ichigo! "You need to keep it on you at all times; a hollow could attack at any moment. How could you forget your badge?"

"I get it already you midget," Ichigo yelled back while holding his nose which was bleeding from Rukia's assault. "I've just had a lot on my mind alright; besides I got enough of that from Uryū." She was about to hit him again when Chad interrupted them.

"Perhaps we should return to the others, as long as the hollow is still out there they are endangered."

"Chad's right," Uryū agreed. "We should get going." They all agreed and started their walk back towards the camp. After walking only a few yards Orihime stopped and quickly turned around, she felt something, but just as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. At first she thought it was the hollow but she realized that it felt different from the hollow.

"Hey Orihime is something wrong," she heard Ichigo call out to her.

"No, nothing's wrong," she answered back as she ran to catch up, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

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><p><strong>Author Note: <strong>I hope you enjoyed this chapter. One of my reasons on waiting was to see if Ichigos powers would change, but I pretty much said screw it and started writing this, then I found away of not having Ichigo using his powers as you saw. I hope I did well with the parts I attended to be funny, I never was good with jokes, more of a spur of the moment type


	4. Night Watch under the Full Moon

**A/N: **This chapter took me a little long to do because most of it I hadn't originally planned to do, I also felt like I had to build up on Ichigo's and Orihime's relationship for what I have planned at the near the end of the story, so I hope I did alright with that, if not tell me where I could improve. I may of rushed some parts may seem odd. Other than that enjoy

_(Chapter Revised)_

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><p><strong>Night Watch under the Full Moon<strong>

They were heading back to the campsite pondering what to do next. This new threat was hard for them to swallow. The attack by the First Hollow was something that they would have never expected. Most of the time was spent on discussing Ichigo's and Uryū's encounter with the First Hollow.

"Judging by what he was saying, he will most likely be coming after us. His goal is to become stronger to get revenge. The more souls he gets the stronger he becomes, the strong the soul the greater the power up." Uryū explained.

"Revenge," Chad asked?

"Could he mean the First Soul Reaper," Rukia commented thinking of the story she told last night?

"That would be the most likely person he would be after based on your story," Uryū answered. "The question now is where is he, wouldn't he be ready for this day or be running here to fight him? Another problem is that this guy didn't look like a hollow."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"There was no mask, whole or broken; he had no hole in his chest or anywhere. He in fact looked completely human but he felt like a hollow." They continued their conversation while Ichigo and Orihime brought up the rear. They too were in conversation over the recent incident.

"Ichigo are you sure you are ok." Orihime asked him for the fifth time, still concerned about the condition he was in before?

"Yes, Orihime, you healed me perfectly, I'm fine," he said, doing his best to reassure her that he was alright. The only thing that was really hurting was his ego after enduring countless scolding from Uryū and Rukia for forgetting his badge. "By the way Orihime, what's with the change in clothes?" He remembered that she had been wearing something different before he and Uryū left to get fire wood. Orihime blushed at his sudden enquiry.

_Wh… Why is he taking notice to what I'm wearing? _She asked herself, did she look awful, she rarely gave much thought about her appearance, but if Ichigo was taking notice to her; what could that mean. "Ah, well Rukia, Tatsuki, and I were going to go for a run while you and Uryū were out getting fire wood. But then we felt that hollows reiatsu so we came running as we were."

"Oh, I was just wondering because you were wearing something else before, we left," he said as they continued to walk back to the camp.

_Oh, was that all he was thinking. _She thought as she sighed with relive. _Wait a minute, was he taking notice to what I was wearing before as well._ She face became even redder then before.

"Orihime, are you feeling alright," he asked? "You look like you have a fever."

"I… I'm fine," she answered. Unbeknownst to them the others had stopped their discussion to listen in on theirs, they all thought the same thing; the idiots couldn't see how they felt for one another.

* * *

><p>"So this guy just came out of nowhere and attacked you guys," Tatsuki asked?<p>

"That's about the gist of it," Ichigo answered.

"And you forgot your badge resulting in you getting your ass kicked."

"Oh for crying out loud; will you guys lay off all ready. How many times are you guys going to keep on reminding me about that?" he complained as he walk over to his tent to grab his badge hoping that the others would finally leave him alone about it.

"So what do we do now," Orihime asked? Rukia took a moment to think about the dangers of the situation they were now in.

"Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro," Rukia said as she turned to them with a serious expression, "all of you go home."

"What," Tatsuki asked wondering why she would tell them to go.

"It's to dang…," Rukia began to say.

"Don't give me that bullshit," Tatsuki yelled.

"Tatsuki," Orihime almost yelled astonished by her friends outburst!

"No, I'm not going to go, I'm not going to be pushed off to the sidelines. We're a part of this group now as well; so don't expect us just walk away now." Keigo and Mizuiro nodded in agreement. Rukia sighed with frustration; she should have known they would have refused.

"Fine," she said, "but if things get out of hand you guys stay back." They nodded their heads in agreement with her terms. "Alright now we need to set up a plan to prepare for another attack."

"He is strong from what I experienced," Uryū said. "He can also hide his reiatsu perfectly; which makes it possible for a sneak attack."

"So we need to be on alert at all times; which means we need people on night watch," Rukia began the plan for their defense. "If he is as strong as you say Uryū, then we should have two people on watch at a time." She then smiled as another plan formulated in her head. "I nominated Ichigo and Orihime for first watch."

"Wh… What," Orihime asked, her face turning slightly red?

"I agree, Ichigo and Orihime should definitely take up the first watch," Tatsuki agreed catching on to Rukia's plan.

"Wait a minute why do they…" Keigo began to complain before having his mouth covered up by Tatsuki. She gave him a firey deathly glare showing that she hadn't forgot what he tried to do early that day. "I mean yes, Ichigo and Orihime should totally take up first watch."

"Hey," Ichigo said trying to get his opinion in on the matter.

"Sure they can have first watch," Mizuiro said. Chad nodded his head in agreement. Uryū couldn't believe what he was seeing. What they were doing was dirty, devious, and underhanded; so he did what he had to do; he pushed up his glasses and said.

"So it is settled Ichigo and Orihime take up first watch for the night."

"Hey," Ichigo yelled! They all turned to see his frustrated scowling face. "Don't we get a say in the matter," indicating himself and Orihime?

"No," they all said in unison. Ichigo felt like he had just been scolded like a child for what felt like the billionth time that day. With everything said and done Rukia pulled out her zanpakutō. "What are you doing?"

"I have to go and report this to the Soul Society; they need to know about the situation."

"Can't you just contact them with your denreishinki," Uryū asked?

"I'm a lieutenant now," she answered. "My position gives me more responsibilities; so I have to make a direct report." She pushed her zanpakutō into the air to summon the Senkaimon. "I'll be back as soon as I can." They all said their goodbyes to her as she left.

* * *

><p>The sun had set and the full moon shined brightly in the sky. Everyone had gone to bed early to keep their energy up in case of an attack, everyone except for Ichigo and Orihime. They sat in front of the crackling fire keep their wits about in case the First Hollow decided to attack them. Ichigo could see that Orihime seemed to be a little more on edge then she normally would be.<p>

"Orihime are you alright, you look a little tense," he asked?

"What, oh, yeah I'm fine." Ichigo gave her a stern look that told her that he didn't buy her excuse. "Well, actually; do you remember when I stalled in the forest and you asked me if something was wrong?"

"Yeah," he said getting a little concerned something had happened to her and she hadn't told anyone.

"Well the reason I stalled to follow was because I felt something; it was quick and brief, but it felt like it had strong reiatsu."

"It must have been the hollow."

"No, it didn't feel like his reiatsu. I don't know what it was but I can't shake the feeling that we are being watched by someone." Ichigo could see that it was really bothering her that she couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

"Don't worry Orihime," he said reassuring her. "We'll figure it out and this will all be over soon, I promise." Orihime smiled at him feeling more at ease. He always had a way to calm her down when she felt uneasy. The night went on as they enjoyed the sounds of the forest. Orihime wanted to ask Ichigo something but he had been getting so much grief from the others the she debated with herself whether or not she should ask, eventually she decide to ask him.

"Um, Ichigo, I wanted to ask you something but considering how the others have been treating you." Ichigo saw that whatever she wanted to ask was making her nervous as she was looking away and twiddling her fingers. Knowing her he thought she wasn't going to try and belittle him like the others had been doing.

"It's alright Orihime go ahead and ask."

"Um, why did you forget your badge? You've been saying that you have had a lot on you mind, I can only think that it would be something serous to make you forget so easily." Ichigo hesitated to answer; he couldn't really tell her the things that had been bothering him recently, what would she think of him, how would it affect their friendship? He would have to answer her carefully.

"Well, uh, yeah I have had my mind on a lot of things; mostly with the recent events that have been happening." She knew he was referring to the fullbringer incident.

"Ichigo, I'm…" Ichigo saw that she was looking down with regret in her eyes; regret over what had happened. He couldn't let her go off blaming herself again.

"Don't say it Orihime," Orihime looked up, surprised to find him right in front of her. He extended out his hand to hold on to hers. "Remember, what we promised each other."

"That we wouldn't let happened keep us down," she said with a smile.

"That's right," he smiled back. "So don't apologize."

"Right, sorry about that," she said with a slight laugh.

"Orihime," she looked at him confused to see a frustrated look on his face. "You apologized again."

"Oh, I'm sor… I mean I'll stop." They both started to laugh over the situation. When they stopped they started to take notice how close they were to each other. They both felt like they had to pull away but neither one really wanted to. "Uh, I…Ichigo."

"Orihime, I uh…" Both were to caught up to figure out what to say to each other but then a cough startled them, they look over to see Chad stand just a couple of yards away. They were finally able to pull away from each other but they were still embarrassed to be caught in the position they were in, even if it was Chad who caught them.

"I'll take over, you two go get some rest," he said try not to make them any more uncomfortable then they already were.

"Alright, I'll go get Uryū," Ichigo said.

"No, let him rest, he had to fight the hollow earlier, so it would be better for him to rest. I'll be able to take up this watch on my own."

"Alright, goodnight Chad."

"Goodnight Chad," Orihime said with a wave. Chad smiled and waved back. Ichigo and Orihime walked back to their individual tents, their little night watch under the full moon was over.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you enjoyed as always I accept any comments on improvement if needed. Next Chapter expect fight, it may be the first fight I really try to extend out compared to the quick one Uryū had.


	5. Arrival

**A/N:** Sorry for the long update, it took me awhile to get the motivation to do this chapter. I must say I'm proud of myself with this one, it didn't take me as long as I thought it would to write it, and it is now my longest chapter yet, hopefully I can continue to write chapters this long if not longer. I hope you enjoy.

_(Chapter Revised)_

* * *

><p><strong>Arrival<strong>

"Do you realize what you are insinuating Rukia," Captain Jūshirō Ukitake asked his Lieutenant? He was sitting at his desk when Rukia bust in his office saying she had urgent information that required the Soul Society's attention. "The First Hollow of legend, the other captains will find this hard to believe."

"I know Captain; I don't want to believe it myself but I can't deny what I know." She answered. She knew it would be hard for anyone to believe what she said but if what Uryū said was true and the First Hollow was just going to keep on getting stronger than they were going to need the help of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in order to beat him. "I need to get this information to the other captains." Jūshirō looked in the eyes of the raven haired woman standing before him, he could see the determination in her purple eyes and that she believed in what she was saying.

"Very well," the white long haired man said. "I will send word to the Head Captain to set up a Captain's Meeting for you." Rukia bowed her head before turn around to leave her commander's office. "And Rukia," he called out before she left. She turned around to face her Captain. "Good luck." She smiled and then left.

* * *

><p>"I now call this Captain's Meeting to order to discuss a matter brought to us by the Lieutenant of Squad Thirteen," Head Captain Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto called out in the main hall. "Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki you may enter" The large doors to the hall opened with a squeaking sound as they slowly swung open, a testament to their old age. Rukia walked into the hall somewhat intimidated to be in the presence of all the captains, all of their attention was on her. "Lieutenant Kuchiki, Captain Jūshirō Ukitake has informed me that you have an urgent message for us to hear. Now, what is the information you have that you feel that requires the captains to hear?"<p>

"Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads I have come to report of a grave threat that has appeared in the human world," she began. "Yesterday evening Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryū Ishida encountered a man that they believe to be a hollow."

"Believe," Captain Retsu Unohana asked, curious of Rukia's choice of words?

"Yes, they described that he had no hole in his chest or any other part of his body, or a mask, whole or broken."

"Then how could he be a hollow or even an arrancar," Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya spoke up? "Those are the very features that they have that define their appearance."

"They along with the rest of us sensed that he had the reiatsu of a hollow."

"Are you suggesting that this is some kind of forgotten experiment by Aizen then," he asked? He tensed as he mentioned that man's name, the anger he had for that man after everything he had done still resided deep within him, his imprisonment was too good for him, expressly after what he had put Momo through.

"I would of thought so but the information suggest otherwise," Rukia answered. She noticed that some of the captains were starting to become somewhat irritated waiting for her to reveal what she had found out. "According to Uryū the man declared himself to be the First Hollow." The captains all stared at her wide eyed, as if she had gone crazy. There was a long silence as the information sunk in and one of the captains spoke up.

"That's ridicules," Captain Suì-Fēng yelled; just as she and her Captain had suspected the other captains her not going to accept this that easily. "You are talking about a mere myth, he doesn't exist."

"I have to agree," Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi said. "What you are suggesting is preposterous. If this man did exist he would be very powerful and I would have detected a strong reiatsu such as that if it had appeared in the human world."

"According Uryū the man seems to be looking for souls to regain his strength, according to the story of _The First_ he had been sealed away, that could have weakened him and he may have just recently escaped. The man also seems to be quite adept to suppressing his reiatsu that would explain why you couldn't sense him."

"And you are just going to take the word of that quincy?" Mayuri asked.

"There is no reason for me not to trust Uryū." Rukia then turned her attention to the Head Captain "Head Captain, I here to make a request." He made no motion for her to stop so she continued. "I request the assistance of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in this matter do to the threat that the First Hollow may become too strong." The Head Captain remained silent as if pondering whether or not to accept her request.

"Rukia I must ask," Captain Shunsui Kyōraku spoke up. "Do you have any other evidence other than the word of your friends?" Rukia looked at the close friend of her Captain realizing that she had come all this way without even seeing the hollow herself suspecting that word alone would be enough; she looked down realizing her grave mistake.

'"No," she answered with shame, "I don't"

"I see," he said as he pulled down his straw hat. All the other captains also looked at her with disappointment. Captain Meetings were not to be taken lightly and she asked for an audience on word alone.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki," Yamamoto spoke up firmly grabbing Rukia's attention as she looked up from the floor. "I cannot grant your request on such little evidence." There was a pause before he spoke again. "However, due to your service to the Soul Society and that of your friends I will grant you the use of the Gentei Kaijo if you deem necessary." She looked at him with wide eyes, she got more then she thought she would after being so firmly scolded by the other captains. "You are dismissed to return to the human world." She bowed respectfully.

"Thank you Head Captain, I'll take my leave."

* * *

><p>Rukia was heading back to the Senkaimon to reunite with her friends to help them against their new enemy. Even though she felt like she had to hurry she couldn't help put to drag her feet as she pondered over the meeting.<p>

_What was I thinking? _She thought. _Going in there with no evidence at all, expecting them just to lend out their assistance. I had hoped that my Captain and brother would support me but even they couldn't do that on word alone. What a fool I was._

"Penny for your thoughts," someone asked from behind her making her jump? She turned around to see Renji standing before her. She could only look down in shame. "Hey don't get so down, I know you didn't get the support you wanted, but you still got our friends on the other side , together you want be so easily taken down." She smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. "And tell Ichigo if he gets his ass kicked I'll come in and save it." She laughed at that.

"Thanks Renji, I'll make sure he gets the message." She turned around and began her run for the Senkaimon.

"Good luck, Rukia." He looked on in hope of her return.

* * *

><p>The sky was beginning to light up to a slight blue as sunlight began to peak over the horizon. The forest maintained a slight darkness from the shade of the trees. The silent giant sat by the smoldering fire. He couldn't help but feel bad for ruining his friend's moment last night; but he had already been standing there when they had gotten so close that he couldn't just stay and invade in their privacy but he couldn't go back to the tent when he was already out so we had no choice but to make his presence known. The sound of a snapping twig broke him from his thoughts; then there was a creaking sound, the sound that wood would give when under stress. Chad got up and began looking around the area of the camp; there was a chill in the air that sent shivers down his spine.<p>

"You should be more careful of you surroundings human," a chilling voice called out from above. Chad look towards the direction of the voice to see a long dark haired blue eyed man in ragged clothes stood on top of a tree trunk and looked down on him; he fit the description of the man that Ichigo and Uryū described. The first hollow sensed that the human's reiatsu beginning to rise in preparation for battle. "Uh uh uh," he said while waving his index finger. "If you want a fight, you and me will go one on one somewhere else, away from your friends, otherwise I will fire a blast at the tents, I'm sure your stronger friends will survive but the weaker ones will die for sure." Chad reduced his reiatsu, he knew by the man's mere stance that he would follow through with his threat. "Good boy, now follow me."

They had traveled a good distance from the camp before they entered a clearing. They turned to face each other and stared deep into each other's eyes.

"So human, do you think you have what it takes to face me," the First Hollow asked? Chad said nothing. "The silent type huh, well I doubt it, you are nothing but a mere human; while I am one of the oldest beings in the world my power far exceeds yours." He started to laugh; he would regain a great amount of his strength with this soul. He stopped when he saw Chad lift up his right arm. "What are you doing human?" His eyes widened when he saw what looked like a white liquid engulfing the giant's arm starting from his fist traveling up his arm. "What the hell is this?" He was now looking at a black arm with a purple pattern on it; there was a fin that stuck up at the shoulder.

"This," the silent giant finally spoke, "this is Brazo Derecho del Gigante." He launched forward determined to lay the first blow, not allowing the First Hollow to gain the advantage so early in the battle. As he got closer he clenched his fist, tightened his muscles and pulled backed his arm. He began to concentrate his reiatsu into his fist; when he was in range he thrust his arm forward and made contact. He saw the shocked look looked in the First Hollow's eyes and felt his body tense before he was sent flying into a tree. The tree cracked from the pressure and fell on top of the First Hollow. Chad was no fool, he knew that the fight was far from over, and if this man could match up with Uryū then there was no way that attack would keep him down. The tree was suddenly lunched towards him; he chose to doge it, figuring the debris caused by destroying it would block his view of the First Hollow leaving him open for an attack.

"I didn't give you enough credit human," the First Hollow said with a grin. "This is the second time one of you have surprised me. You people are far stronger than I expected. I will not make the same mistake again." He launched himself forward determined to answer the giant's attack in kind. Chad chose to stand his ground, when the First Hollow's fist was within arm's length, he threw his fist forward to meet that attack head on. The power of the collision forced the two to jump away from each other. As the First Hollow flew back he raised his hand and began gathering reiatsu into the palm of his hand; a red ball of energy began appear. Chad dug his feet into the ground and braced himself for the attack. The cero was launched forward speeding head on towards the giant. Chad lifted his hand and grabbed the attack; he was being pushed back as his feet dragged against the ground; he closed his hand around the attack and the cero dissipated.

"Impressive, you are indeed powerful to take that attack head on," the First Hollow commented. "Tell me do you have any more tricks up your sleeve," he asked with a grin? Chad stood up tall determined not to be intimidated. Two small fins separated out from the main on his shoulder in response to the First Hollows question. "What the hell?" A large amount of spiritual energy burst out from the giants shoulder. _What is this, what's it supposed to do, _the First Hollow questioned? The reiatsu pouring from the boy in front of him was intense. _Was this supposed to increase the power of his strike or the speed of his jump forward? Whatever it is I'm ready for it._ "Come on," he yelled as he braced himself for the attack! "Give me everything you got." Chad firmly clenched his fist and pulled back his arm, ready to give the First Hollow what he asked for.

"El Directo!" Chad yelled as he thrust his arm forward. The First Hollow was dumbfounded when he saw a bust of energy fired straight at him; the attack made contact and sent him flying through several trees. After the momentum of his flight finally gave way he picked himself up, his clothes more torn then they had already been, his back somewhat sore from the beating it took. He had to laugh at himself, the fight was proving to be more then he thought it would be. He slowly began walking back towards the clearing determined to win, for this human's soul would prove to be most satisfying.

"Well human you far exceed my expectations. What is your name?"

"Yasutora Sado."

"Yasutora Sado, a fine name for such a strong warrior. That is an impressive ability you have there. Quite a powerful attack; however," there was the unmistakable boom of a sonído and the First Hollow appeared just to the right of Chad. "It's not strong enough to beat me." He swung his arm making contact; the resulting force pick up dirt clouding his vision. As the dirt and dust settled he could see a silhouette through it all. _Still standing, impressive._ As the figure became more visible his eyes widened at the sight before. He had made contact with Chad's right arm, but it looked completely different from before. The arm seemed to have expanded making what looked like a shield; the design on his arm became even more elaborate.

"Brazo Derecho del Gigante, is not meant for attacking."

"What the hell are you talking about," he asked in confusion?

"My right arm represents the soul of my Abuelo. He taught me to use my fist to protect. Brazo Derecho del Gigante is my defensive power."

"Are you telling me that you have been holding back this whole time," the First Hollow demanded? As if to answer, a white liquid began to travel up Chads's left arm. The First Hollow's eyes widen at what he saw. He saw a white arm with a spike coming out from the shoulder and what look like a claw going across his left side of his chest, there was a red stripe going down the middle of his arm. "What the hell is this?"

"Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo," Chad said with great confidence. "This is my offensive power." The fingertips of his left hand started to glow. He closed his fist cause electricity to emanate from it. "La Muerte," Chad yelled as he swung his left arm towards his opponent. The First Hollow was too dumbfounded yet again to dodge and for the third time was sent flying into trees. "Is it over," Chad asked feeling that the First Hollow was not what he was cracked up to be due to the one-sided battle. Suddenly two red beams shot towards him and pierced his shoulders. He yelled out in pain as his arms fell limp to his side. There was the boom of a sonído and the First Hollow was right in front of him, he swung his right leg forward and made contact with Chad's face sending him slamming into a tree.

"Now it's over, you fought valiantly, a true warrior," the First Hollow commented as we approached Chad, raising his hand into the air. "But it is time for you to die, your soul will be mine and I will be one step closer to my revenge." He moved to bring his hand down to finish Chad off when there was a loud explosion on the spot.

* * *

><p>"Orihime wait," Tatsuki yelled at her friend as she ran into the forest. Orihime had woken up in a panic and was already out of the tent before she could ask what was wrong. Orihime only took a moment to ask where Chad was before she began running towards the sounds of explosions. "Everyone, get up," Tatsuki yelled! In under a minute Ichigo and Uryū were out of their tent, Ichigo already in his soul reaper form.<p>

"What's going on," Ichigo asked. Before she could answer there was another explosion. "Where's Chad?" he took a moment to look around? "Where's Orihime?"

"I don't know where Chad is but Orihime ran off towards the explosions."

"Damn it, why didn't she wait for us?" Ichigo took off to catch up with Orihime, Uryū quickly followed. Tatsuki, determined not to be left behind again, decided to follow, Keigo and Mizuiro were right behind her.

* * *

><p>As the dust started to settled Chad could see the silhouette of a figure. Once the dust had completely settled he got a good view of the man standing before him. He had short brown hair. He was wearing a soul reaper's shihakushō and had a red cape draped over his right shoulder, if he was stand still and the cape draped down his arm it could easily reach the tips of his fingers on his right hand. He held a zanpakutō in his right hand. He looked beyond the man standing before him to see the First Hollow lying against a broken tree, a grin plastered on his face.<p>

"Well well well, look whose here," the First Hollow said with amusement. "Hayato."

"Noburu," the man named Hayato replied.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough." Hayato answered with a firm voice. Noburu had to rethink his strategy, he wasn't expecting Hayato would find him so quickly, the fight he had with Chad had worn him down and he still was far from full strength; he had to retreat for the time being.

"I hate to cut this reunion short but I have to go." He fired a bala into the ground kick up enough dirt into the air to cover his escape. Once the dust settled he was gone. Hayato sheathed his sword knowing it would be pointless to chase after him.

"Chad," he heard a woman's voice cry out! He turned around to see a long auburn haired girl running into the clearing; she paused once she saw him. He could see more people on the way coming from behind her.

"Orihime," the boy that was sitting up against the tree spoke up. She turned to see that he was injured. She went to his side to get a closer look at his injures. The others entered the clearing and stopped just as the girl did when they saw him.

"Who are you supposed to be," the raven haired boy asked.

"My name is Hayato. Be grateful that I got here in time to save your friends life."

"Sōten Kisshun." He turned to see the girl kneeing before a golden dome that covered the injured boy, He was shocked to see that the boy's injures here already disappearing. He had never seen a healing technique that was so quick.

""Why are you here," the orange haired boy spoke up; Hayato took note that the boy's voice showed signs of discomfort with him staring at the girl so he put his attention on said boy.

"I'm here to take out Noburu for good this time."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you enjoyed, as always I open for suggestions to improve my writing, expressly for fights, if you think my fights need improvement please tell me, I would like the last fight of the story to be epic. Updates might take longer now, school just started last week and I have a major and minor to keep an eye on.


	6. Meeting

**A/N: **Here it is finally the long overdue update. I apologize for the wait, school and work can take a lot of time and be quite tiresome. This is also a chapter that I really had to think about as I wrote it, most of it wasn't planned, did I mention that it is more of my latter chapters that are planned, in that case those will be a bit easier to write then this one

I have also revised the previous chapters, nothing major, fixed spelling and grammar errors, changed or edited a sentence here and there and added little things, but nothing I feel that warrants you to reread them if you don't want to. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Meeting<strong>

Hayato continued to stare in silent awe as he watched the young woman heal the dark skinned man that had been fighting Noburu. The giant's wounds seem to be healing at a rapid pace. In all his years he had never seen or felt such an ability before. To others it would indeed seem that she was healing him but he knew better, no healing ability he had ever seen could do what he was seeing. He knew that healing abilities simply increased cellular regeneration, even then a patient would need to take the time to recover; this was different, it was as if she was completing undoing the damage.

_Fascinating. _A voice in his head spoke up.

_Indeed it is. _Hayato answered back.

_For such a young human to possess such an astounding ability is amazing. _The voice continued. _One can only wonder what else she is capable of. _He subconsciously nodded his head in agreement. _Keep an eye on her._

_Why?_

_She could be the… _The voice stopped talking as if hesitant to finish the sentence.

_Do you really believe that? _He answered knowing what the voice was implying. There was a long silence before it answered.

_It's just a possibility._ Hayato subconsciously sighed.

_Very well, I'll watch over her; see what else she can do._

"Ahem," a voice filled with annoyance spoke up drawing his attention. He saw the orange haired boy giving him a scowled look. He only just made contact and one of them was already starting to get on his nerves. Ichigo was thinking the same thing. _This guy has only been here for a few minutes and he is getting on my nerves, why the well is he looking at Orihime like that. _

"What," Hayato asked?

"You've been standing there this whole time not saying a word; a little information would be nice."

"I've told you why I am here, that's all you need to know."

"I have to disagree, on that," a raven haired boy wearing glasses spoke up. "If you are who I think you are, I would have suspect that you would have been here a lot sooner to deal with the first hollow."

_Oh-uh. _The voice returned with a tiny bit of amusement.

_Don't start. _He stated back. "I got here as soon as I could. Noburu can hide his reiatsu perfectly; it is hard to track him down."

"Why are you lying," a small voice asked him? He turned to face the girl named Orihime to see that she was standing, the golden dome that had been on Chad had disappeared, his injuries completely healed. He glared at the auburn haired girl.

"What makes you think I'm lying girl?"

"Your reiatsu."

"What about it?"

"After Ichigo's and Uryū's encounter with Noburu I felt it, but only for a moment, your reiatsu." His eyes widen in shock, how could she have felt him at all, his reiastu should have been hidden perfectly. "You were watching their fight and Chad's. Why didn't you intervene until now?"

_Well she is full of surprises. She caught you red-handed._

_Your enjoying this aren't you._

_You think?_

"Interesting," he finally answered. "I was hiding my reiastu perfectly and yet you were able to detect it for a brief moment."

"Answer her question," Tatsuki demanded.

"Very well, I didn't intervene until now because I wanted to see what you all were capable of." He looked around at all of them. "Can't say I'm impressed."

"You bastard," Ichigo yelled in anger. "He has been attacking us and you just decided to stand by and watch just to see what he could do. Chad was almost killed."

"And I came in and saved him, I wasn't going to allow any of you get to get killed. I needed to know if you could handle him. Right now you really only have numbers on your side. It will only be a matter of time before his power exceeds all of yours. He doesn't need souls to regain his power; it has steadily been growing this whole time. If he was to get just one of your souls his power will continue to grow at a far rapid pace."

"So not only does he gain more power based on how strong the soul is; the speed of his power grows as well," Uryū asked?

"Precisely."

"I think we should head back to the camp," Uryū instructed, "we can continue this conversation there." They began their track back to their campsite mostly in silence. Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime headed the group; Mizuiro and Keigo were in the middle; while Uryū, Tatsuki, and Hayato brought up the rear. Hayato kept his eye on the auburn haired princess as if expecting her to do something at any moment. There was a glow to her that he could not shake.

_When I said keep an eye on her, I didn't mean twenty four seven. _The voice spoke up.

_Anything could happen at any time._

_You're being paranoid._

_I am not par…_

"Ahem," the girl next to him called for his attention. "Stop staring at Orihime like that," the raven haired girl demanded while keeping her voice down. His eyes widened at being caught. "You touch her, I'll kill you." She stared at him with a dark glare. The glare was filled such fire that he felt himself withdrawing to get away from it. The voice in his head was laughing so hard that he could hear it crying. Uryū had to keep himself from smiling at Hayato sudden tenseness. They continued to walk in silence until Ichigo broke it.

"Chad," he called to the hollow powered human, "why did you go off and face that guy on your own." Everyone's attention was drawn to the dark skinned man, waiting for his reply.

"I didn't have much of a choice," he answered.

"What do you mean," Orihime asked?

"He threatened to attack the tents with all of you in them if I didn't follow him."

"Why didn't you wake me up last night to join in the watch," Uryū asked, "we could have kept him from attacking if we were both watching."

"I figured you were tired from your encounter with Noburu yesterday that I didn't want to disturb you so you could regain you energy."

"That was very foolish of you," Hayato spoke up. "You would have been killed and he would of gotten stronger. If it wasn't for the amount of reiastu you were putting off and the explosions your friends would have never known and he would have returned for them anyways. You should have just attacked him when you saw him and taken the chance that you could get him before he could follow through with his threat."

"We don't gamble with each other's lives," Ichigo told him slightly miffed at how casually Hayato criticized Chad.

"Is that so," Hayato commented not all intimidated by the boy's response.

"Yeah it is." Once again their walk was continued in silence until they returned to the campsite where they found a surprise waiting for them. Rukia had returned.

"Where the hell did you guys go," she demanded?

"Had another run in with the first hollow," Ichigo answered.

"What happened?"

"He forced Chad into a one-on-one confrontation," Orihime answered. "He was saved by Hayato, but Noburu got away."

"Who's Hay…ato." Only then did Rukia notice that someone had comeback with them. He had short brown hair with matching eyes. He was wearing a soul reaper's typical attire with a red cape draped over his right shoulder. _Is that… could that really be him._ "Is that…" she was hesitant to ask?

"Yeah that's him alright," Ichigo answered known what she was asking? She sensed a little irritation in his voice. What did the guy do to get under Ichigo's skin already? "How did the meeting with the Thirteen Court Guards go?"

"Not well," she answered while keeping her attention on Hayato. "I didn't have enough evidence to get any reinforcements. But with your help," she indicated Hayato, "they will believe the threat and we could get reinforcements from the Soul Society."

"No," Hayato answered almost immediately with a stern voice.

"What?" They all looked at him demanding an explanation.

"I have reframed from ever being involved with the Soul Society. I'm not about to start now. Besides the less people involved the better, if none of you had made contact with him I would have taken care of him myself."

"You know you have been a real hard ass ever since we met," Ichigo said sternly as he glared at Hayato. "It's starting to get on my nerves."

"Like I care." Ichigo had had enough of Hayato's attitude; he pulled Zangetsu from his back and pointed it at Hayato.

"Ichigo," Orihime cried in surprise.

"I've had enough of this. All you have done since we met you is criticizes and ride us for everything we do. You barley know us and don't really know what we are capable of."

"And you plan on showing me what you are capable of," Hayato inquired while resting his hand on the hilt of his zanpakutō.

"You're damn straight I am."

"Ichigo this isn't the time for this," Uryū said trying to stop the fight before it could escalate.

"The boy wants to prove himself," Hayato said with an amusing smile, "I say let him." There was an eerie silence that rested over the group. The others stepped away from Ichigo and Hayato; Orihime however was hesitant to move.

"Ichigo?"

"Don't worry Orihime, I'll be fine." He looked into her hazel eyes with a smile. She nodded and step aside with the others.

"Are you done talking to your girlfriend or can we get started." Two faces turned redder then their owners' hair. Ichigo decided to response, he launched forward and the two zanpakutō made contact.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hayato is a bit of a dick isn't he? I hope you enjoyed, sorry if it was boring as I said this was a make as I go chapter. Next up Ichigo vs Hayato, don't know if I'll have the whole chapter make up the fight or just a part of it yet. Sorry that this chapter took so long to make and for being much shorter then the last chapter


	7. Another Battle, Another Night

**A/N:** Sorry for the long update, finals were up, so that and work took up most of my time. I may have rushed this a little bit so sorry for any messy parts. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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><p><strong>Another Battle, Another Night<strong>

The air was ringing with the sound of the meetings of the two blades. The large oddly shaped blade clashing with the katana. Each one trying to outdo the other. Their owners staring each other down each time they met. Ichigo and Hayato jumped away from each other poised to strike each other again. The others stood back and watch as the two soul reapers did battle to see if Ichigo was a match for Noburu. The two walked in a circle, their brown eyes never leave each other's sight. They then lashed out at each other a shockwave emanating out from the contact of their blades.

"Well I must say I'm so far impressed," Hayato commented. "You've been able to hold you own and not receive a scratch yet."

"Well you'll find that I full of surprises," Ichigo answered back. He dug his feet into the ground and began to push Hayato back. The old Soul Reaper was surprised by the sudden exsertion of power and he found it more difficult to stand his ground. He gathered his wits and dug his feet into the ground to hold his position. Their zanpakutō sliding against one other; sparks flying as the edges slid together, each trying to outdo the other. The two warriors once again pushed themselves away from each other. Dust kicked up from underneath them as they flew into the air and made contact again.

"Wow," Keigo said astonished. "Ichigo is actually holding his own against that guy. Here I was worried that this First Soul Reaper guy would be like some kind of god-mode guy. Kick his ass Ichigo!" He waited for his friends to cheer in unison, but it never came. He looked at all of them only to see stern looks on their faces as they watched the duel go on. "Hey, what's the deal guys, Ichigo is doing great in this fight."

"Keigo," Uryū responded, "shut up. This is hardly a fight." Keigo looked at him puzzlingly. "Take a closer look, has Ichigo even gone bankai yet. Hayato has to be holding back a considerable amount of his power, he hasn't even gone…" He was interrupted by another shockwave the passed through them. Ichigo and Hayato kicked their fight up a notch as they were now flash stepping around each other trying to get a blow on the other only to have it blocked by the others zanpakutō. Zangetsu cut through the air vertically while Hayato's zanpakutō blocked horizontally, his hand pushing against the dull end of the katana. Hayato moved his zanpakutō to an angle, Zangetsu slid down past Hayato, creating an opening. Hayato lashed out at Ichigo, who jumped out of the way. He looked down and saw that his shihakushō now had a tear in it.

"You've got some good reflexes kid." Hayato said with a smirk. "Let's test them some more." The orange haired boy was gone in a flash.

"How about we kick this fight up another notch then," Ichigo yelled from behind! Bring Zangetsu down, colliding with Hayato's sword again.

"You should learn about the element of surprise." He swung around picked up his bent knee and thrust his leg forward. Ichigo let out a grunt when the foot made contact his gut. He jumped back to put some distance between him and Hayato; but Hayato lunged forward to keep him close and swung his blade. Both blades barley made contact with each other. "You are not looking to hot kid," Hayato noted by the strain of Ichigo's arms. Ichigo pushed Hayato's blade away and swung down only to be met by Hayato's blade again. "Is this all you can muster kid?"

"I told you, I'm full of surprises," Ichigo said with frustration as Zangetsu pushed down on the opposing zanpakutō. "Getsuga…"

"Ichigo, what the hell are you doing," Rukia yelled from the sidelines realizing that the fight was about to escalate to a new level.

"…Tenshō!" The arching light blue energy expanded out from Zangetsu pushing Hayato away and sent him flying to the ground. Hayato slammed into the ground kicking up a large amount of dirt.

"Ichigo what were you thinking," Uryū called up to him? "You didn't have to take the fight that far!" Ichigo looked down seeing the worried looks of his friends. Realization came over him; how far the two of them had gone, just how far they of could gone.

"I…," he began to say.

"Rise from the ashes of the eternal flames," Hayato's deep voice emanated from the cloud of dirt, "Fenikkusu _(Phoenix)_!" The area filled with the sound of an explosion as the cloud of dirt dissipated and flames emanated from the center. Hayato stood tall holding his now released zanpakutō. The blade had taken on the same size and the former shape of Zangetsu in its shikai state. However it had a hilt and circler holes that stretched down the sharp edge down to the hilt of Fenikkusu and flames spun around the holes, the flames connecting each hole together like stitches. "You wanted to kick this fight up another notch? So be it." In a flash he was gone. Reappearing just behind Ichigo. In a split instant Zangetsu and Fenikkusu met with a loud boom. Ichigo could feel the heat emanating from Hayato's blade; the scorching heat was almost unbearable. "Now do you understand what you are up against. You never beat Noburu." Hayato gave Ichigo a stern look before continuing. "Kaimetsu sa seru _(Raze)_." The flames swirling around the edge of Fenikkusu suddenly encased the entire blade bathing it in extreme heat. In that same instant Hayato over powered Ichigo; Hayato swung his sword down sending Ichigo towards the ground the flames going along with him.

"Ichigo," Orihime yelled as he hit the ground encompassed in flames!

"Guys this is getting out of hand, you've got to stop them," Tatsuki demanded! The flames died down and Ichigo struggled to get up, he was able to get as far as his knees. He looked up at Hayato to see flames swirling around the edge again.

"It's over," he said, he began to close the distance between him and Ichigo at a rapid pace.

"Santen…" Orihime began to chant!

_Enough!_ Time came to a standstill around Hayato. _That is enough Hayato. _The voice said again. _This has gone long enough and too far._

_The kid wanted to try and prove that he could take on Noburu. _Hayato answered back. _I have to make him see that he doesn't have a chance._

_He is a warrior, young, but a warrior none the less. He seeks to protect those around him. Were you any different when you were that young? _Time regain its momentum. Hayato came to a halt before he could advance any further. Orihime stopped her chant when she saw him stop. The swirling flames on his sword disappeared and Fenikkusu reverted back to its sealed form as he sheathed it. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and let the adrenaline cease.

"Ichigo are you alright," Orihime called out to him as she ran up to him, Ayame and Shun'ō shot out from her hairpin and encompassed him in a golden dome. He wanted to tell her that he was fine, but everyone would know that he was lying by the state he was in.

"Don't worry; I'll be fine once you are done healing me." He put on a smile to try and ease her worry; it seemed to work as she smiled back. It took her a few minutes to reject the burns and bruises that he had received from Hayato's final attack; once she was done Ayame and Shun'ō returned to their respect places on her hairpin. However neither Ichigo nor Orihime got up; they just continued to stare at each other.

"You two want a room," they both looked up to see Hayato standing nearby. They both blushed at being caught again staring at each other. He was receiving stern glares from the two remaining girls.

_Good job, you ruined the moment._ The voice scolded him. One of his eye brows twitched, no one was on his side today; he was being slammed from all sides. He tensed when the voice told him to do something else.

"I apologize for my behavior," he said as his body began to relax. "I have fought Hayato many times and know what he is capable of. Forgive me for being… forceful for trying to get my point across."

"A bit of an understatement if you ask me," Tatsuki said under her breath. Silence rested over the group as they were left wondering what to do next.

"Why don't we break the ice with breakfast," Mizuiro suggested? The group agreed to this and they got what they planned to eat and cooked it but even with a meal they were still quite around each other as they sat in a circle around the campfire. The tension between Ichigo and Hayato was so thick that not even a knife could cut through it.

"So…," Rukia began to say, "you must have a lot stories with how long you've been around."

"I don't like talking about the past," Hayato said with a little bitterness. Rukia seemed to withdraw a bit from his response.

_You could have been a little nicer about not telling her anything. _He was about to answer back but then he felt that something was off.

"I'm sorry but I have to go," he said as he got up quickly. "There is something that I must attend to."

"You are just going to take off after all you said about us not being able to take on Noburu," Uryū asked sternly. Hayato gave him a stern glare in return.

"I also said that you have the advantage of numbers. Noburu is aware of this and is probably aware that you now know as well. As long as you stick close together he will be cautious about attacking you, he has yet to regain his full power. Now I must go. Keep your wits about you." In a flash he was gone and out of their senses.

"What the hell was that all about," Ichigo asked?

"I don't know," Chad responded. "He has been acting weird ever since he met him." The rest of the day went on without incident. No attacks from Noburu and Hayato did not return. Night began to fall over the forest once again and the group had to decide how to set up night duty again.

"How about the same set up as last time, but in reverse; Ichigo needs his rest." Rukia suggested? "I'll join Chad and Uryū on first watch."

"Wouldn't it be wiser for us to spread out our strength and have you join… argh," Uryū began to say before Tatsuki elbowed him in the gut. "I mean sounds like a plan." After several hours of night duty Rukia, Uryū and Chad went to their tents to sleep as Ichigo and Orihime took their place. They were silent for a while as they sat at the campfire, not really have anything to talk about other than what had happened today.

"Orihime," Ichigo called for her attention, "I want to apologize for the way I was acting this morning. If I hadn't gotten carried away with the fight I wouldn't have gotten injured forcing you to heal me." She looked up him and smiled, which confused him, why would she be smiling at what he said.

"It's alright Ichigo," she said. "You just wanted to show him that we take on Noburu, you must have proven something for him to have to release his zanpakutō."

"But I must have made you worry about me for you to almost bring up you shield." She blushed she didn't think anyone had notice her attempted interference. "Were you really going to put up you shield?"

"Well.. I… ah" Ichigo got up and walked over to her to sit next to her.

"Thanks, I appreciate it, if I had been fighting Noburu he probably would have taken me out before I could have gotten my bankai out." They smiled at one another in understanding and there they sat for the rest of the night enjoying each other's company.

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><p>The sun rose over the forest to welcome another morning as the others got up. Ichigo and Orihime where going to their tents to get some rest, but the peace was disturbed by an all too familiar voice.<p>

"I see that you are all awake, good maybe now you will present a challenge."

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><p><strong>AN: **Hope you enjoyed. The rest of the chapters, with the possible exception of one should come up with little delay, with winter break and now reaching the point where most of the important and critical events have been planned. As always I'm open to suggestions for improving my writing, especially how I write fights.


	8. Revelation

**A/N: **I know I said chapters would becoming by faster now, but work has been a living hell, as anyone who has worked and/or lived on a farm can tell you when you get an outbreak. I know it's kind of soon to have another battle chaper after having one last chapter. Next chapter should be free of fights. I have been waiting to get to this part of the story for a very long time and its out just in time for the New Year. I hope you enjoy.

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><p><strong>Revelation<strong>

The group stood on the defensive; Noburu looking down on them from the tree trunk he stood on, his tattered clothing swaying in the wind, a smile on his face. Absolute silence rested over the area as the group maintained eye contact with the First Hollow.

"Where's Hayato," Noburu asked with a laugh? "Did he run away? Figured he would be here to face me. He was always so determined to take me down ever since we met. Now, who's first?" Ichigo's hand shot up towards the hilt of Zangetsu.

"Ichigo," Rukia called to him! His hand stopped just before he could grip the hilt. "You and Orihime need to stand back." She received surprised glances from both red heads.

"What," Orihime asked? "Why?"

"Both of you are tired; your abilities will be affected by your fatigue. Also if one of us gets severely injured during this battle we'll need your healing ability, if you are hurt that won't do us any good. Ichigo, if he gets passed us you'll have to make sure he stays away from her."

"Who's this," Hayato asked? "Haven't seen you around here yet?"

"Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki of Squad Thirteen of the Soul Society."

"Never heard of it."

"Well you have now." Rukia extend her hand with her zanpakutō out and started to move the blade in a circle counter-clockwise. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." Her zanpakutō turned icy white and a long ribbon extend down from the pommel. She tap Sode no Shirayuki into the ground once creating a circle around her, then she began to puncture the ground at four separate points in the circle, each point bursting with white light, Noburu rised one eye brow at this action; then Rukia pointed the tip of her zanpakutō at him. "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren" A large burst of light shot out towards Noburu. His eyes widened as the attack approached him at high speed. He quickly jumped into the air as the tree he was on was engulfed in ice. He was about to smile when a flash of light caught his attention. He quickly looked to see a hail of individual blue bolts of light heading his way. He back flipped and then pushed the air to launch him towards the ground narrowing missing the quincy's arrows. Suddenly he felt the side of his face being slammed by a hard fist before he was sent flying into a tree. He slowly got up and saw Chad standing in the spot he had previously been standing in.

"Not bad Yasutora," Noburu commented, "getting me when I wasn't prepared; they say payback is a bitch." He rubbed his cheek. "However, you still not strong enough!" He clenched his fist as it started to glow red. He pulled his arm back and was about to thrust it forward but stopped when light emanated underneath him. He looked down to see that he was standing at the center of an ice circle.

"Some no mai," he heard a voice say behind him; he quickly looked behind himself to see the raven haired soul reaper with her back turned to him, "Tsukishiro." He quickly jumped out of the white circle just as Rukia finished her attacked and a pillar of ice stretched for the sky, then shattered. He still had the bala charged around his fist and was about fire it into Rukia's back when he started to get hit from the side by blue arrows.

"Dammit!" He threw his arms up to defend himself. The arrows continuing to slam into him were beginning to annoy him. "Take this you damn quincy," he yelled as he pulled his arm back with the still charged bala.

"El Directo!" The attack slammed into him before he could react to it; sending him slamming through trees, making him lose focus of his bala as it disappeared. The three stood ready for his counterattack, which soon came as a cero; they all got out of the way and the attack destroyed a tree.

"Impressive," Noburu said as he returned to the clearing, "the coordination of your attacks keeps my focused on one person at a time making it hard for me to see attacks coming." Their eyes widened as they looked at him. Not a scratch was on him, not a single bruise, not even a mark. He launched himself forward readying his attack on the three warriors. They quickly separated in three separate directions. Rukia lunged towards Noburu, when he came into range she quickly swung Sode no Shirayuki just in front of him forcing him to jump. He was about to bring an attack down on her.

"La Muerte!" He quickly looked up to see Chad flying towards him, the white fist making contact with his gut. Noburu slammed into the ground and slid across it until he came to rest at the base of a tree. He didn't get a chance to get his bearings as Uryū fired another round of arrows at him. As the dust settled Noburu stood tall showing no signs of damage.

"Do you really think you can beat me," Noburu said cockily. "Only one person has ever been able to seriously injure me. What makes any of you think you can do that."

"Can you two distract him for a couple of seconds," Uryū asked Chad and Rukia? They both nodded in response to his question. They both quickly closed the distance between them and Noburu and started to make random swings at him which he easily blocked. He was about to launch a counterattack but the both quickly jumped away, he was about to follow Chad when he found his movement impaired. He looked down to see four blue streaks of light connected to him; he also saw that he was at the center of a blue circle, each streak connecting to the circle through a metal tubes emanating blue blades of light.

"What is this? Why can't I move?"

"This is your end," Uryū stated stand next to one of the tubes, holding a small cinder container, "hollow." He poured the contents of the container on to the tube, soon the circle lit up bright before everything within exploded. He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relieve, but he soon felt immense pain in his gut. He opened his eyes to see Noburu standing before him, his hand inside his stomach. Uryū was surprised to see that the only damage he had done to Noburu was tore his clothing up. _What the hell? How can he not even have a scratch on him after all that?_ Noburu quickly took his hand out and then kicked Uryū away from him. He jumped forward to continue his attack but was stopped by the orange haired soul reaper.

"Orihime hurry and take care of Uryū," Ichigo called out; not taking his eyes off of Noburu. Uryū was quickly covered by a sphere of light, Orihime kneeing by it with her hands resting against it.

"How long," Uryū asked her?

"It's going to take a bit," she answered. "There is a lot of reiatsu surrounding the wound." There was a loud boom; the goddess quickly looked up to see Ichigo and Noburu jumping away from each other as their attacks forced each other back. They both lunged at each other, Ichigo preparing to swing his sword, Noburu preparing to thrust his fist. Blade and rock hard flash met causing another shockwave.

"Not bad kid," Noburu said. "You're much strong then I have suspected." They both tried to push each other through sheer physical force. "However, you're not good enough." He quickly swung his leg making contact with Ichigo's ribs. Ichigo's back soon made contact with a tree cracking the bark. "Now you die!" He jumped forward readying to make one final blow.

"Ban…," Ichigo began to say as he thrust Zangetsu forward.

"Kaimetsu sa seru," a voice yelled! Noburu was slammed from the side by an arc of fire and was sent flying into the opposing trees. Hayato quickly appeared a few yards in front of Ichigo. "Sorry I'm late." He looked around and saw that only one member of the group had been severely injured. "I must say that I am impressed that you all held out against him. Looks like I didn't give you enough credit." He looked at Ichigo. "Good job, but I'll take it from." With one flick of his wrist the edge of Fenikkusu ignited in swirling flames.

"Hayato," Noburu voice called from the flames, "how nice of you to join us."

"Noburu, you will not be escaping this time."

"Escape?" Noburu walked out of the flames. "I don't want to escape. I want to see how much you've improved since we last fought." They both disappeared; reappearing midway making contact, a large amount of dirt being kicked up. This process continued for several minutes; constantly making contacts with each other followed by a shockwave, occasionally they tried to push the other away before separating from each other. "You have definitely improved," Noburu commented as they made contact again. "But you still not good…" he began to say as he swept his leg for Hayato's side only to be stopped, "…enough." He was surprised by how fast Hayato was to use one of his arms to block his attack.

"You'll find that I have improved greatly since you were sealed away. Kaimetsu sa seru!" Noburu was sent to the ground in flames. He quickly exited the flames putting some distance between him and Hayato. "Now let me show you what over two thousand years of training has obtained." He lifted his sword into the air. "Bankai!" His whole body seemed to ignite in flames, swirling around him. The flames died down to reveal the appearance of his bankai. Plated armor that looked like scales traveled up his arms, the armor traveled half way down his back forming a v-shaped point at the bottom; in front he only had a chest plate. His zanpakutō now looked like a regular katana; a chain came out from the pommel connecting to his wrist. "Raijingufenikkusu (_Rising Phoenix_)." He disappeared for a split second, reappearing behind Noburu; he quickly swung his leg around and kicked him square in the back sending Noburu into another tree. Noburu quickly got up; stretched out his palm which began to glow red, he fired off a cero towards Hayato. Hayato responded with a slash of his blade and an arc of fire shot out to meet the oncoming attack; when both attacks met dirt a fire erupted from the ground; soon the smoke dispersed from the shockwave of Hayato's and Noburu's clash at the epicenter. They quickly parted; Noburu's fists glowed red and he fired of several balas at Hayato who with his left arm blocked each one. Noburu began to laugh.

"That's it," he said with a twisted smile, "give me everything you have." He then fired off another cero at Hayato who was quick to cut it in half diverting the two halves away. Hayato lifted his blade into the air.

"Kaimetsu sa seru," instead of his blade being encased in fire as everyone was expecting; the plates began to separate from each other forming gaps in-between them. Fire erupted from the gaps and gathered behind him. The gathering fire began to take shape. A head. A body. Feet. Wings. It was taking the shape of a bird. What looked like eyes glared down at Noburu as if the fire was alive. Hayato raised Raijingufenikkusu higher into the air, in response the bird of fire stretched out its wings. "It's over Noburu." He swung his blade forward and the bird quickly jumped over him and flew at great speed towards the First Hollow, slamming into him and engulfing him in flames. Hayato breathed heavily, he had put a lot in the attack taking advantage of Noburu arrogance. "It's over."

"Wrong," a voice said behind him. Hayato eyes widened in shock, he slowly turned around to see Noburu with his back to him. The only damage he had done was destroying whatever was left of his clothing above his waist; his right leg sleeve gone with half of the left one gone. "It's over when I say it's over." He turned to meet eye contact Hayato. "And it's over now!" He quickly slammed his elbow into Hayato's back sending him smashing into the ground. Noburu touched down just several yards away from him. "I must say Hayato, I'm impressed, a few more centuries and you may be a threat to me." He raised his palm and it began to charge a cero. "However you have been a thorn in my side for the last time."

_Damit_ Hayato thought. _Over two thousand years I have traind. Over two thousand years he has been sealed away. And I'm still not strong enough._

_Get up. _A voice called to him. He tried to comply but his body was met with pain. _You need to get up._

_I'm trying. _His body was once again met with pain in a failed attempt to get up. He had put too much into his last attack.

_Hayato, please get up. _The voice pleaded.

_I'm sorry._ Hayato closed his eyes when Noburu fired the cero. _Goodbye._

_Hayato!_

"Santen Kesshun," a young voice yelled! Hayato opened his eyes to see the cero make contact with a triangle shield, when the attacked stopped the shield shattered. As the shattered pieces fell he noticed they had the same glow as the Sōten Kisshun. He looked over towards the orange haired goddess one hand still rested on the dome covering the raven haired boy the other stretched out towards him. Noburu also took notice to this.

"Interesting," he said. He looked at the dome noticing what it was doing. "A defensive and a healing ability." He turned his body towards Orihime. He disappeared with a loud boom.

"Orihime behind you," Tatsuki yelled!

"But you should be watching out for yourself." Orihime could feel the attack coming towards her. "Now you die for your incompetence."

"Shiten Kōshun!" A pyramidal shield formed behind her. Noburu's fist met with the barrier; then there was a flash of light before he was sent flying in the opposite direction. He picked himself from where he had fallen and walked back to the clearing. He was met with wide eyes as he came into sight.

"You seem surprised. I'll admit that attack still hurts; but as I said before," he explained as he raised his hand towards his left should, the location of his pain, "only one person has ever been able to…" he momentary stopped when he felt something harm, something liquid, "…injure…me." He pulled his hand away and was hesitant to look at it, when he did he saw it covered in blood, his blood. "What? How?" _The girl's reiatsu isn't anywhere near strong enough._ He was about to attack her in retribution when he was stopped.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" The blue arc of light sent him back in the direction he had come from previously. When the dust cleared he was gone, nowhere to be found. "Orihime are you alright."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," she answered with a smile.

"I fine to," Uryū called from under the Sōten Kisshun, "thanks for asking."

"Yeah you look fine," Ichigo responded. Orihime looked back at Uryū to see he was indeed completely healed. She called Ayame and Shun'ō back. "You better heal Hayato, looks like he needs it." She walked over to him and began to heal him as he sat there trying to contemplate what had just happened, the girl succeeded where he had failed.

_She's the one. _The voice said.

_She's so young, can we really thrust this on her._ The voice was silent for a moment.

_It may be the only way to stop him._

"Orihime," Hayato called to her as she healed him. The girl gave him her full attention. "I have a request for you."

"What is it?"

"When you are finished healing me there is some where I must go; I'd like for you to come with me."

"What," Ichigo yelled? "You can't be serious?"

"I am; this may be the only way to defeat Noburu."

"If you think we are going to just let you take her," Tatsuki said coming up to them, "you are sadly mistaken."

"Take? You make it sound like I'm going to kidnap her; she is free to say no." Orihime thought about it, having watched the fight seeing the others unable to harm Noburu; if there was way she could assist in his defeat.

"Alright," she answered, "I'll do it."

"Orihime you can't be serious," Ichigo asked?

"If I can help in some way to beat Noburu; then I'll do it." She called back Ayame and Shun'ō back when they finished. Hayato got up and stretched, then looked at Orihime as she got up.

"You can say goodbye to your friends before we go. Take your time." He walked away to give them privacy. There was an awkward silence rested over the group.

"Well…um," Orihime tried to say something to them before she went.

"Just be careful Orihime," Tatsuki said.

"Just watch your back," Uryū said, "there is no telling what could happen." Chad gave her a thumbs up in a silent gesture of support, while Keigo and Mizuiro nodded their heads. She then looked at Ichigo as he approached her.

"Just promise that you come back," he asked?

"Of course," she said with a smile, "I promise." They stood there for a few moments lost in what to say to each other, but a simple smile from each other was enough. Hayato then approached them.

"Are you ready," he asked? She nodded in response. He rested his hand on her shoulder preparing to take her to their destination.

"Wait," Ichigo called stopping them, "just what exactly is your plan." Hayato looked him in the eye for a moment.

"I'm not at liberty to say." In a flash they were both gone.

"He's not at liberty," Uryū asked himself? "What is that supposed to mean?"

* * *

><p>They came to rest at the entrance of a cave. Orihime had to quickly regain her balance as her head spun.<p>

"I take it you are not use to high speeds," Hayato asked her?

"I've only experienced it once or twice."

"You'll get used to it." He walked through the entrance to the cave soon followed by Orihime. The moment she walked a few feet in she felt something and came to a halt. "I see you noticed. There is a barrier around this cave to keep people outside from detecting reiatsu inside." Only then did she notice that there was another presence deeper in the cave. It felt powerful but weak at the same time. She saw that Hayato had already continued to walk deeper in to the cave; she quickly caught up to him. They entered a chamber, it looked like a make shift home had been set up for quite some time. On the other side of the chamber there was a bed; it looked like someone was in it, a lump covered from head to toe by the sheets lied on it. Hayato quickly walked over to the bed and rest his hand on the lump; it stirred.

"She's here," a voice asked from under the sheets?

"Yes," Hayato responded. The person under sheets began to move. "You shouldn't get up you need your rest," he insisted.

"I requested her presence; the least I can is sit up and greet her." He reluctantly nodded and helped them sit up. As the sheets fell down long silver hair was revealed; if they had been stand up their hair could probably reach their waist. Orihime saw that the person was a woman. She looked young, maybe a little older then herself Orihime thought. She turned her head to face Orihime; crystal clear blue eyes met her hazel ones. Orihime was quick to bow and greet herself.

"Hello, my name is Orihime Inoue." The woman gave her a kind warm smile.

"Hello Orihime, my name is Hoshi," she said in a kind sweet voice. "I am the First Soul Reaper."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Didn't see that one coming now did you, lol. Before anyone says I pulled this out of nowhere, I laid out hints throughout my story, they were very subtle and could be easily missed or misinterpreted. Note how even though I had characters say it, but I the writer never called Hayato the First Soul Reaper. I did lay it on thick in this chapter before the big reveal. You guys have no idea how long I've wait to reavel this, almost slipped up once. I probably sucked on the goodbyes. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and Happy New Year!


	9. The First Soul Reaper

**A/N: **Here is the next chapter, and I believe this is what originally sparked my story. Enjoy.

_(Chapter Revised)_

* * *

><p><strong>The First Soul Reaper<strong>

He walked back and forth. His arms folded together with his right index finger twitching. What was he thinking, letting her go with Hayato? They barely knew anything about the guy; he has been acting suspiciously since they met him, and they were supposed to trust whatever his plans were would be safe for her.

"Ichigo would you sit down already," Rukia asked him in annoyance, he had been pacing back and forth for over an hour? "You're driving me nuts."

"I'm worried about Orihime. We just let her go with that guy without any clue as to what he is planning. Aren't you worried about her? How can he trust Hayato when we don't know a thing about him?"

"Of course I'm worried about Orihime; she's my friend to. We just have to trust whatever Hayato has planned will bring her no harm, he is the First Soul Reaper after all."

"I'm not too sure about that," Uryū spoke up, earning him questioning glances from the others.

"What do you mean," the raven haired soul reaper asked?

"Everything seems to go against him being the First Soul Reaper," he informed them. "The way he acts goes against the story you told us." Rukia raised an eyebrow telling him to explain. "In your story the First Soul Reaper was hesitant to finish off Noburu, however Hayato seems determined to kill him. Noburu said that he was such the day they met, that doesn't coincide with them being together before they turned on each other. Noburu has shown a great determination on getting revenge for his imprisonment, I would think we would have more rage against Hayato if he is the First Soul Reaper, but instead Noburu simple referred Hayato being a thorn in his side. It also seems that Hayato has never surpassed Noburu in power based on their discussion during their battle," the glass cladded quincy stopped for a moment to take a breath. "Then there is what he said before he left with Orihime which has brought me to question whether or not he is the First Soul Reaper." The others looked at him waiting impatiently for him to go on. "When you asked what his plans were," he looked at the orange haired substitute soul reaper, "he said he wasn't at liberty to say."

"So," Keigo asked? "Why would that matter?"

"People don't say something like that unless they are under orders not to tell people." The others began to understand what he was saying.

"If he is under orders from someone," Chad began to ask?

"Then just who the hell is he," Tatsuki continued?

"And who is giving the orders?" Ichigo finished?

* * *

><p>She looked back and forth between the two standing across from her in the chamber. She was confused by what she had just been told; the woman that lay in the bed was the First Soul Reaper, not Hayato as she and the other had been led to believe. She kept on looking between them so much that her head began to spin. The two soul reapers would swear that her head would pop off if she continued.<p>

"Ah, Orihime," the First Soul Reaper called to her.

"But I thought that you were," Orihime began to say as she pointed at Hayato.

"I never said I was the First Soul Reaper," the brown haired soul reaper interrupted her.

"You never said you weren't either," Hoshi commented. "Knowing full well they believed that you were." Hayato twitched with frustration at her jab.

"Do you really have to do that?"

"Do what," she asked almost playfully?

"Always taking jabs like that at me."

"Do you have to make it so easy?" He twitched at that, knowing what she was doing.

"I'm not playing this game."

"As you wish." She then turned her attention to the girl she had asked for. "Sorry about that," she said with a smile, "I couldn't resist." She saw that Orihime was still confused. "Come and sit, I can explain everything." She padded the side of the bed, being the only place that the girl could sit, Hoshi refused to let her sit and the cold stone floor. Orihime complied as she walked across the chamber. "Now, where to begin? As I said I'm the First Soul Reaper, my dear Hayato here keeps up the appearance because he is a little…"

"Protective," Hayato finished.

"Extremely protective when it comes to me."

"I guess I know what that is like," Orihime said as she thought off her friends who always protected her.

"I guess you would," Hoshi thought as she remembered how the girls friends were resistant to letting her go with Hayato. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself, family, friends, it's been so long since I've had someone other than Hayato to talk to."

"I'm standing right here you know."

"Sorry Hayato, I meant no offense, it's just nice to see a new face." He nodded in understanding. "So Orihime, you don't mind telling me anything do you."

"No of course not," Orihime said with a smile. "Let's see where do I begin; well I grew up in Karakura Town. I go to Karakura High; I'm in my sophomore year. I work at a bakery."

"What about your family," she noticed that Orihime tensed at her question?

"Well I don't remember my parents, they were mean people, when my bother came of age he took me when I was three and ran away, fearing that they would kill me. My brother took care of me; he worked hard to make sure I had a decent home." Orihime paused for a moment dragging out the bitter memory she had. "About five years ago he died from a car accident. Since then I have lived on my own." She took a deep breath for a long time "I had blamed myself for what happened. That day he had given me these hairpins," she reached up to where her pins were on her shirt, "I didn't like them because I thought they were childish; we got into an argument and he left. When he died I begged him not to leave me, and he didn't; he watched over me as a spirit, but he eventually turned into a hollow." Hoshi's interest had been increasing through Orihime's story, but her interest had now doubled. "He was angry, thinking that I had abandoned him for my friends." She sighed before continuing, "Thanks to Ichigo, he was able to regain control over himself, and I got to say farewell to him before he passed on to the Soul Society." She saw Hoshi give her a sincere smile.

"That was very touching," she commented. "You must have held a lot on your shoulders, and so much more." Orihime looked at her at asking what she meant. "I've lived long enough to be able tell much about someone from their eyes. What about your friends?"

"Well I met Tatsuki shortly after my brother passed away, then I quickly made some other friends we always hang out at school during lunch break. I met Ichigo when I entered high school." She stopped for a moment as she remembered an early memory. "Well actually I met him once before; at his family's clinic the day my brother died." Hoshi rested her hand on Orihime's leg to comfort her when she stopped again. "I met Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro along with Ichigo. I met Uryū through our Handicrafts Club at school. I also met Rukia during her first stay in our world; it's thanks to her that all of us got so close to each other."

"You and your friends seem very close." A smirk then came across her face. "You really seem close to Ichigo." Her smile grew wider when Orihime face began to turn red.

"Wha… What do you mean?"

"I know what I saw."

"Saw? What?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention this earlier. Hayato and I developed a technique that allows us to communicate with our minds and see through each other's eyes, with limitations of course, we do respect our privacy. Now where were we?" She smiled. "Ah yes, you and Ichigo."

"We are just friends. I really like him and all, I mean I like all my friends and all but…"

"You really like Ichigo more than a friend, don't you?" A devilish smile crossing her face.

"Well ah…" Her face grew redder. Hoshi covered her mouth and closed her eyes; Orihime looked at her trying to figure out what she was doing; then she heard a giggle escape through Hoshi's hands. The giggle soon turned to laughter as she put her hand down.

"Sorry I couldn't resist," she said as she laughed. Soon her laughter had a mixture of coughing. Then all she did was cough, which soon turned violent. Hayato shot up from where he had been sitting and went to a bucket; he grabbed a cup and got some water out of the bucket. He took a large pinch of powder from another cup and stirred it into the cup of water. He went to Hoshi's side and put the cup into her hands; she struggled to drink it, Hayato's hands held onto hers as he helped her drink Orihime could of sworn she saw a hint of red as Hoshi wiped her mouth. "I'm…," she took a breath, "sorry about that."

"What's wrong," Orihime asked?

"Not now," Hayato interpreted the conversation before it could start, "you need your rest."

"Yes," she said as her eyes started to droop, "rest." She then looked at Orihime. "As do you. I prefer that you have a clear mind when we continue." She then nearly collapsed on Hayato. He slowly put were down and covered her up to keep her warm. He then looked at Orihime.

"When's the last time you slept?"

"I was on late night duty last night, so it's been awhile." He began to walk over to a side chamber and singled her to follow. They walked in and she saw that the chamber was smaller than the one they had been in; there was just a bed inside.

"You can sleep here until Hoshi wakes up."

* * *

><p>He was slowly walking through the woods, his hand pressed against his wound. He still couldn't believe what had happen. He was still raving about it. His wound was still in pain, it was slowly regenerating; he thought it was because of being sealed away for so long, but then he figured it was something else. There was more to the girl's attack then he originally thought.<p>

_How? _He thought. _How was she able to do it? Her reiatsu is so much weaker than Hoshi's. So how did she do it, what were her abilities, what did they do?_ A loud crack echoed across the forest, he fist pressed against a tree trying to vent his frustration. _Next time she dies, painfully. _What sounded like a tear came from somewhere nearby, he started to walk towards the mysterious sound.

When the hole finished opening a figure draped in white walked out, a broken mask covered part of his face; a hole could be seen in his chest. He looked around; something had lured him to the human world. Something that could be felt from Hueco Mundo. He was among the last of Aizen's army. Soon he would lead that remaining army when he obtained whatever had been emanating such power. He heard a noise behind him, as soon as he turned around a hand was around his throat. He stared into the black hair man's hungry blue eyes.

"You have quite a bit of power," he said. "With you I will come closer to my full power."

* * *

><p>She slowly got out of her bed and exited the small chamber. She approached the bed in the larger chamber as quietly as she could. As she got to the bed she lifted her hands to her hairpins that hung to her shirt. A hand lashed out and grabbed hers.<p>

"No," the beds occupant said.

"But you are not well," Orihime reasoned.

"I have not been well for five hundred years." She slowly got up. Hayato came in from the entrance when he heard the disturbance. "I guess it's time we got down to the point of why you are here."

"Why can't I heal you?"

"I am old Orihime; very old. Although my body doesn't show it my soul does and it affects my body. " She let out a small laugh. "You know I never really thought about how old I am. I really don't know, all I really can say is it is over four thousand years. I guess you could say that my body has decided that my time is up."

"Hoshi, maybe you need some more rest before we go through with this," Hayato said, Orihime could see concern etched into his face.

"There is no point in delaying this Hayato." She looked down, she knew this was hard for him to endure, but it had to be done. "Besides, there isn't much time left. Orihime, you told me about yourself, now it is my turn to tell you about myself or more precisely, myself and Noburu, the true story of the Firsts."

* * *

><p>They were all now beginning to worry; it had been almost a day already since Orihime had left, and there had been no signs of her returning. Ichigo was pacing more than ever. Rukia was chewing on her thumbnail. Tatsuki's right leg wouldn't stop fidgeting. Uryū twiddled his fingers on his knees. Chad was silent but anyone who knew him well enough could see the signs of his concern. Keigo and Mizuiro were also quite fidgety. And they were all getting the feeling, the feeling that Orihime's wellbeing was in jeopardy.<p>

* * *

><p>Orihime was shocked by what she had just been told. The story she had just been told was vastly different from the one Rukia had told them. Of course a firsthand experience would be far more detailed, but there were many differences.<p>

"Now, for the reason you are here," Hoshi interrupted her thoughts. "As you can see Orihime, I am not fit to fight." She stopped for a moment. "Orihime, could you tell me about your powers."

"Well I have the ability to reject all forms of phenomenon done onto an object." She saw that the First Soul Reaper's eyes bulge out of her sockets.

_The power to reject all forms of phenomenon? Her powers go well beyond what I originally thought. _Hoshi thought. _She could very well be the one._ "Well then back to why I asked you here," She looked into the girls hazel eyes. "I wish to give you my power."

"What?" Orihime was completely surprised by the suggestion.

"As I said, I am not fit for battle. I needed to find someone who could beat Noburu. You were able to harm him as you are now. You will not only gain my power, but my power will infuse with yours unlocking your full potential." Orihime didn't know what to think, what she was be offered was beyond her, would she really become so powerful that she could help her friends beat Noburu. "However there are dangers to this. Unlike what soul reapers can do today, by stabbing the person they are giving their powers to and that person gets the power in an instant. This will be different; I will give you my power directly, it will not be pleasant, it will not be over in an instant either."

"What do you mean?"

"The fusion of our powers will be a long process, and it will be very painful. However that is not the greatest risk." She looked her in the eye; she had to be honest with her. "The process alone… could kill you." Orihime stiffened at this. "If it doesn't, the pain alone could break you. So with that in consideration, will you accept my offer?" Orihime took a good long while to think about it. She took a deep breath.

"I accept." Hoshi nodded. She brought her hands close to her chest and concentrated as hard as she could. She pulled her hands away a ball of white energy coming out of her chest. Once it was fully out she nearly fell over, but she caught herself. She then brought the ball closer to Orihime. Orihime began to reach out for it.

"Orihime, you can still turn back." Orihime looked at with a look that asked to explain. "As I said there is great risk involved in this. Once this starts, there is no turning back; even if you survive and remain sane, the power may be too much for you to handle. Don't do this because you feel like you have to. It's not worth…"

"I want to," Orihime interrupted her. "I want to be able to help my friends rather than sit on the sidelines like I always do. I want to be able to protect rather than be the one always being protected." She saw the determination in the girl's eyes; she was ready to give her life for what she believed in.

"Alright," she pushed the ball of energy closer to Orihme. "Take it; you have to accept into yourself. I can't push it on to you." Orihime raised her hands and grabbed the ball, then she slowly pulled it towards herself; it slowly entered her body. Orhime didn't feel any different. She was about to say something when a wave passed over her. She collapsed to the floor on her hands and knees; she was breathing heavily, her whole body aching. "I'm sorry Orihime, but nothing could have prepared you for this." A scream echoed throughout the cave.

* * *

><p>He began to put on his new clothing; what remained of his tattered clothing had been tossed aside. He could now feel the power now crossing through his veins; the hollow had enough power to increase his greatly. He could now set out for revenge, but he wanted more. In one loud boom he was gone.<p>

* * *

><p>Hatayo put the young girl in the bed. She had passed out from the pain she was enduring. The process wasn't over however. He could see her body quivering from the pain she was still going through. He covered her up and took a damp rag and placed it on her forehead; trying to make her as comfortable as possible. He walked back into the larger chamber and went to the other bed's occupant. Her breathing had grown more heavily. The one thing that had slowed down her illness was all put gone. She was almost mortal now; and her health was now decreasing at an accelerated rate.<p>

"Hoshi?" She opened her eyes when he called to her. "Why didn't you let her heal you?"

"You know that it is not just my health, but my age as well that is the cause of this. It would probably be to much for her to simply reject my vary age itself. Besides, I have lived a long live." He went out sigh.

"You should get some rest." He turned to walk towards the entrance but a hand grabbed his.

"Could you sit with me, please," Hoshi asked? "I can't risk falling asleep to never wake up and risk Orihime's life. If I were to die before the process is complete, then she will die as well. So could you sit to with me?"He complied with her request. "Hayato, I know you are upset," he tensed at you accusation. "You're upset that I didn't choose you, you are upset that I will soon leave this world."

"Why her?" He wanted to understand, he really did, why some so young over himself.

"For two reasons, her power, but most importantly," she paused, "she understands my pain."

"But she is so young, do you really think she will survive this. Maybe we should try something else."

"It's too late; if I pull my power out now the shock to her body will kill her for sure." Hayato knew all this, but it still hurt. He had thought that he could be the one that could bring down Noburu, but most of all he didn't want to lose her. But he knew it was futile she had been slowly dying for five centuries. "Hayato, thank you for everything you have done for me. You have stood by my side for over two thousand years. So thank you my love, for everything." They kept eye contact knowing this could be their last personal moment with each other; they bent towards each other and kissed.

* * *

><p>The boom echoed around them. They all jumped up ready for battle. He was there and they could tell that his power had grown greatly.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I've hope you enjoyed. As I said before this is what started my story originally, what it was is Orihime going through the painful process of the power infusion. The arrancar is a throw away character so no need to ask. As for the true story of the Firsts, don't worry I plan on showing that latter.


	10. Battle for Survival

**A/N:** Here is the next chapter, its really just a battle chapter. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Battle for Survival<strong>

The group stood at the ready. Their enemy was near. Ichigo and Rukia had their zanpakutōs at the ready, with Sode no Shirayuki already in its released state. Uryū had his bow at the ready. And Chads arms had already transformed. Their three friends stood back; distancing themselves from the oncoming battle. Sound of snapping twigs was approaching them. He was playing with them and they knew it. With every snap his reiatsu would slightly increase. He came into the clearing in his new attire. They all looked at him trying to figure out how he came across an arrancar attire. They didn't have wait long to get the answer.

"Like the new outfit," Noburu asked with sadistic smirk. "Picked it up from one of those pathetic hollows; still smells though." He laughed at his own little joke, but the others found no humor in what he said. "Tough crowd." He looked around at the group and notice the absence of the two he wanted the most. "Where are Hayato and the girl," he asked with a frown.

"We don't know," Ichigo answered, "and even if we did we wouldn't tell you." He quickly disappeared and reappeared behind the first hollow and swung Zangetsu down, colliding with Noburu's forearm.

"You're pretty fast kid but you still don't stand a chance against me; remember what happened last time."

"Last time you didn't take this at point blank range. Getsuga Tenshō!" Blue energy arched out from the blade and sent Noburu into the ground. When the smoked cleared the First Hollow stood up and looked at his torn sleeve.

"You little prick; you just ruined my new…" His short monologue was intruded when a black fist slammed into the side of his skull sending him flying across the clearing. Before he even hit the ground blue bolts followed him. Rukia thrust her palm forward towards the growing cloud of dirt.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!" As she spoke out the incantation a red ball of light began to form in front of her palm. "Hadō 31. Shakkahō" The red ball of energy launched forward towards Noburu's location, as soon as it reached him an explosion created an even larger cloud of dirt. There was a long silence before are red light could be seen from within the cloud. Soon a cero shot out towards the raven haired soul reaper. "Bakudō 39. Enkōsen." Her still stretched out palm was quickly joined by her other hand holding her zanpakutō; a dull yellow spinning disk forming in front of her. The cero slammed into her only line of protection and it was quickly weakening. She could feel her feet digging into the ground as she was pushed back. Cracks began to show in her barrier and soon shattered; she closed her eyes as she prepared for the attacks force; but it never came. She opened her eyes to see a giant in front of her. His right arm in the form of a shield, blocking the attack that soon dispersed. "Chad?"

"Rukia are you alright," he asked? He turned around to check on her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He gave her a nod.

"Guys look out," Ichigo's voice yelled out! They quickly redirected the gaze towards Noburu only to see a red ball rapidly coming towards them. The bala slammed into Chad's chest sending him smashing into Rukia; they both flew back a few yards before they hit the ground. "Getsuga Tenshō!" Another blue arch of energy flew towards Noburu. He quickly jumped out of the way and landed on a tree trunk. "Chad, Rukia are you alright?"

"I'm alright," Chad answered.

"I'll be alright," Rukia struggled to say, "once you get off of me Chad." The kind giant quickly got up and helped the noble up.

"Get down!" The three immediately hit the ground as thousands of blue bolts flew over them at an incoming Noburu. He threw up his arms in defense to the barrage; each bolt clipping his clothes. He soon disappeared in a loud boom.

"Uryū get down! El Directo!" Chad thrust his arm towards the quincy who dropped to the ground the moment the attack was launched by Chad's fist. The attack hit Noburu dead on. His body slammed into a tree in the opposing direction.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." The icy blast soon followed the direction of Chad's attack and encompassed the first hollow. "Is it over," Rukia asked as she looked on at the block of ice she had created?

"This battle is far from over," the glass clad teen said as he joined his friends. Cracks began to appear around the block of ice; soon a red glow began to emanate from within. They all jumped out of the way when the ice shattered and a cero shot towards them. Noburu slowly got up and brushed any remaining bit of ice off of himself.

"Not bad, you almost had me there," Noburu said as he brushed of the last bit of ice. He slowly raised his head and looked at his opponents with a smile. "Evinces on the almost." Ichigo slowly approached the overconfident hollow. He lifted Zangetsu until it was pointing straight at Noburu; his right arm fully stretched out with the blade.

"I think it is time I show you what I am really capable of."

"Is that so?" Ichigo slowly lifted his left arm until it was firmly grasping his right forearm. The long cloth that hung of his hilt soon started to wrap itself around his right arm.

"Bankai!" Black energy soon erupted from Ichigo encompassing him and shooting up into the sky. Soon the energy dispersed reviling Ichigo in an open black shihakushō with x-shaped straps going down the middle connecting the opening, with a white undershirt; his hands her coved by white cloves. His large zanpakutō had shrunk down to a long black katana; three protrusions along the blunt end of the sword close to its tip; a long chain coming down from the base of the blade connecting to his right glove. "Tensa Zangetsu." Noburu started to laugh.

"That's it. That's the true form of you power. Hayato was more impressive. It doesn't even compare to…" Ichigo disappeared causing him to stop his monologue.

"Getsuga…" The first hollow quickly looked behind himself to see the orange haired boy, his sword lifted over his left shoulder; black energy with a red glow wrapping around the blade. "…Tenshō." With one swing Ichigo unleashed his attack point-blank. The moment it hit him Noburu could already feel the trees slamming into his back. Once he finally came to a stop he just laid on the ground for a while.

"Okay," he said with a groan. "That hurt." He sat up and checked his back and felt nothing but a tear in his cloths. He slowly got up and brushed the dirt of his clothes. With one swift push he shot back towards the substitute soul reaper. Before he could reach him he was bathed in white light causing him to stop in confusion.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro." He had just started to leave the pillar of light before the ice shot up; his entire body except for his head and shoulders was caught inside.

"Damn you!"

"Chad now," the petite women called out. The kind giant soon was face to face with the first hollow. His left armored arm was pulled back, his fist clenched, lighting emanating from it.

"La Muerte!" His fist collided with Noburu's head; the force of the attack shattered the pillar of ice and Noburu body reached for the ground. When his body met the ground large chunks of ice fell on top of him. Soon a bala shot out and slammed into Rukia; as her body hit the ground. Chunks of ice shot up into the sky as Noburu launched out from the pile towards the adopted noble. She had no time to defend herself.

"Roar Zabimaru!" A blade segment rammed into the side of Noburu sending him into the opposite direction.

"Renji," Rukia called out? The red haired soul reaper was soon at her side.

"Are you okay," he asked?

"What are you doing here?"

"Got promising from Captain Kuchiki to come and help."

"My brother?" Suddenly Ichigo was at their side.

"Who invited you pineapple head?" Ichigo gave a mocking smirk.

"I don't need you promotion strawberry." Renji gave his own mocking smirk.

"Why you little prick!"

"What comes around goes round." They both stared each other down.

"Ouch," they both yelled as they rubbed their heads staring at Rukia's clenched fist.

"You idiots! We're in the middle of a battle! We have no time for you childish bullshit!" They were soon joined by Uryū and Chad.

"Another insect has decide to show up I see," Noburu said as he got up.

"So this is the First Hollow?"

"Yeah," was Rukia's response. The lieutenant of squad 6 took one look around and noticed the absences of the auburn haired princess.

"Where's Orihime?"

"Long story," Uryū informed him. Soon Noburu was upon them and they scattered. Uryū unleashed a barrage of arrows at him, forcing the First Hollow to put distance between him and the group. Renji took the advantage and swung Zabimaru; Noburu put up his hands as the first segment came at him and grabbed the blade.

"Is that the best you can do insect?"

"No, this is. Bankai!" His zanpakutō lit up before the force of energy from the blade kicked up dirt covering a vast area. When the dust settled Noburu found himself face to face with a giant skull.

"What the hell?"

"Getsuga Tenshō!" Before Noburu could even look the attack slammed into his side sending across the clearing before slamming into the ground. Renji jumped into the air dragging Hihiō Zabimaru up with him before Noburu came flying out of the cloud of dirt towards Ichigo; he then took one mighty swing.

"Higa Zekkō!" The bone segments of his zanpakutō began to detach from one another; when they reached the snake skull it spun a full 360 degrees before unleashing a red blast. The attack hit dead on kicking up a massive amount of dirt. As the dust cleared there was no body to be seen. "Where'd he go?" He soon felt a great pain in his chest. His grip on the bone handle loosened and slipped from his hand; as Higa Zekkō fell it reverted back to a normal katana. Renji looked down to see a hand sticking out of his chest.

"Renji," Rukia screamed as his body fell to the ground! The three boys instantly reacted and attack the first hollow at the same time as Rukia ran to Renji. "Get up," she yelled as she shook him! "Wake up you stupid idiot!" She shook his cold body harder. "Wake up Renji," she cried!

Uryū tried to get a shot of but Noburu was on him before he could; he latched on to the quincy's right arm and threw him into the ground just a couple of yards from a shocked Rukia. Chad to make contact but his fist was caught in the hand of the First Hollow; he could feel the pain as his hand was being squeezed before he was thrown down next to Uryū.

"Getsuga…" Ichigo began to yell but stopped when Noburu disappeared from sight. He felt a small tug on his sword; when he looked he saw the First Hollow having a firm grip on the blade.

"I'm done playing." With one firm swing he launched the substitute soul reaper into the ground next to his friends. "It's been fun," he said as he raised his hand and started to form a cero, "but it is time for all of you to die." He could feel a presence behind him; when he turned he was looking into the fierily eyes of Rukia Kuchiki. She unleashed a barrage of swings from her sword. Noburu was barely able to dodge the angry swings. He quickly landed on the ground, Rukia chasing after him. "Come on you little…" Rukia passed him before he could finish his mocking comment.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Noburu was consumed in the pillar of ice. Rukia began to slowly walk back to the group; in particular her lifelong friend.

"Rukia behind you," Ichigo yelled! Before she could turn around she felt the bala slammed into her back sending fly towards her friends. Noburu began to stalk towards them readying the killing blow. He then felt a log smash into his back, shattering into pieces. He turned to see a raven haired girl, one of the three humans with no sign of powers.

Tatsuki knew it was a stupid idea. She knew she had no powers. She just could no longer stand by and watch her friends get hurt. She felt like she had to do something. Noburu hand lashed out in an instant and wrapped around her throat and picked her up. She dropped the remaining half of the log she had used and grabbed the First Hollow's arm in an attempt to support herself so she could get air.

"You're very brave and very stupid," Noburu said as he prepared to crush her throat.

"Put her down Noburu," a voice called out. He looked towards the source to see none other than Hayato.

"Hayato, you're just in time for the show. Now watch as this girl dies." He clenched his hand and felt… nothing. He looked and saw that the girl was gone; he hadn't even felt her leave his grip. He then heard coughing; he turned to find the girl near the group he had defeated , the other two humans running up to join them. "That was a neat trick Hayato." He returned his attention to the old soul reaper. "I suppose it is time for us to finally finish our little conflict?"

"I am not your opponent." The First Hollow raised an eyebrow to this response.

"I am," a delicate voice spoke from behind him. He turned to see the auburn haired girl who had wounded him. And just for a moment, he could have sworn he had seen stern blue eyes overshadowing the young girl's hazel ones, staring into his own.

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><p><strong>AN: **I hope you enjoyed. As always I open for any improvements you believe are needed. Just to make sure their is no confusion, the line stern _blue eyes overshadowing the young girl's hazel ones _means Noburu could still see Orihime's eyes, but there were transparant blue eyes just in front of them. For those wondering why I didn't have Ichigo put his mask on, it is because I'm not sure if he got his hollow back when he got his soul reaper powers back. Next chapter Orihime vs Noburu.


	11. Final Battle

**A/N:** Here is the next chapter for all of you. Orihime is going to be very OOC, I hope my explanation is good enough. Enjoy.

**Revised**

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><p><strong>Final Battle<strong>

The area was filled with silence as the two stared at each other. Noburu studied the young woman now before him; something about her had changed from when he last saw her. The girl's hair seemed matted; a few strands were sticking to her cheeks as if she had been sweating from a considerable amount of work. Her body seemed to be more honed then it was before. There was even a change in her reiatsu felt different. Then there was that stare; that stare that seemed so familiar to him.

"So," Noburu said, "you've decided to show yourself as well. Good. I've been looking for some payback for what you did to me." He blinked and she was gone. It took him a moment to figure out where she had gone. He turned to see her back to him while she stood by Hayato. The others didn't even see what had happen. One moment she had been standing in front of Noburu; the next she was behind him.

"Well," Hayato asked the princess, "how do you want to handle this?" He looked at the auburn haired beauty as she stood in silence. Orihime took one look at her friends as they stared back at her with questionable gazes.

"Keep my friends out of the fight," was her answer. He turned towards them and began a walk to them complying with her request.

"Do you really plan to fight me all by yourself," Noburu asked? Laughter broke free from his lips. "You can't be serious. I just beat all of your comrades into the ground. What makes you think you stand a chance against me by yourself?" There was silence just for a moment before she disappeared. He barely reacted in time. He quickly turned around and threw his arm up as the long leg snapped at him. The moment contact was made a dust cloud formed behind him. He was at first shocked at the young woman's speed and power. He then had an enthusiastic smile cross his face. _Finally, a challenge. _He pushed her leg aside and took a swing towards her but the elegant goddess quickly moved away and jumped several feet away. For one moment he thought he saw blue eyes again but he quickly shook the thought from his head.

He watched as the two stared each other down before they made contact once more. The sudden burst of energy knocked him from his stupor. Ichigo's hand latched onto Zangetsu as he prepared to jump into the battle, but his advancement was halted by Hayato.

"Out of my way," the orange haired boy demanded!

"Stay out of it boy," Hayato responded with a stern stare. "All of you will stay out of this fight."

"Like hell I will!"

"I agree with Ichigo," Uryū said. "Orihime is not a fighter. We can't let her take him on by herself; no matter what you did to make her so strong." Chad nodded in agreement.

"We can't let her fight him alone," Rukia spoke up. "I can't lose another friend." Her voice was quiet as she clenched onto Renji's lifeless body as he lay on her lap.

"If you get involved you will only get in her way. She will have to worry about any one of you getting hurt and she would have to hold back to keep from hurting you herself." He turned his back to him to watch the engagement. "Just stay put. She'll be fine."

"You weren't the one that saved me were you," Tatsuki asked finally waking from her own shock? He turned his head to look her in the eyes.

"No, I wasn't the one that saved you," the brown haired man responded. "You have your friend to thank for that."

She was putting the training that Tatsuki had drilled into her to use. Her movements her fluid. Even though each strike was blocked she was pushing back her opponent. Eventually she backed the First Hollow into a tree. He was quick to dodge the kick that followed. The tree could not bear the pressure and toppled over. He quickly launched his own barrage of attacks to which Orihime simple dodged with little effort. He tried to get a kick in but Orihime brought her arm up to which his attack made contact with her forearm. Before he could pull back Orhime's arm shot out and grabbed hold of his leg. For the third time since the girl revealed herself he could have sworn he saw blue eyes again. His face soon met her foot. His body went flying in the opposite direction. When his body came to a stop after sliding on the ground for several yards he quickly got up and fired off a bala which Orihime dodged with ease. Soon after he fired off the bala he disappeared with a boom and reappeared behind her.

"Now you are mine," he yelled as he swung his fist forward!

"Santen Kesshun." His frustration began to rise as his fist made contact with the triangular shield; the girl's defenses seemed to be perfect. His frustration was soon replaced by discomfort as the shield disappeared before the auburn haired girl's foot made contact with his gut. His feet dug into the ground as he slid several feet away.

"I see that there is no point to try and play with you," the First Hollow said under breath. Soon a heavy pressure bore down on the area. "I think it is time to kick it up a notch!" As the final word left his mouth he was on her. She was barely able to dodge his attack; his fist bore into the spot she had just been standing on. Orihime didn't have time to think about it as he was on her again with a barrage of attacks; this time she couldn't just simply dodge them, she had to block some as well. She quickly crossed her arms in front of her as he sent a forward kick her way. She slid away from him and soon began to jump away to open the distance between them. She didn't get far as a cero made contact with the spot she was in.

"Let me go," Ichigo yelled! He was quickly tossed back onto the ground by the others. Hayato was having a hard time keeping them from getting involved in the battle. His difficultly only grew when Noburu's reiatsu rose and he started to gain an advantage over Orihime.

"I told you to stay out of the fight," he yelled back! Ichigo sent a deadly glare towards the man that halted him from protecting Orihime. Then he looked at the cloud of smoke that covered the area he had last seen her.

"You expect me to stand by and watch Orihime get killed! I won't let you stop me!" He got back and propelled himself towards the battlefield. He didn't get very far as he was soon kicked back down to the ground.

"Shut up and stay there," Hayato demanded! "This battle is far from over."

"What the hell are you…," Rukia began to ask but stopped when a serene voice spoke from within the smoke?

"Reject," her sweet voice echoed, "Shun Shun Rikka." An intense light emanated from the smoke and soon was blasted away buy a shockwave. The group had to cover their eyes from the brightness and the blast of air that was sent their way. When everything settled and they could finally see they opened their eyes and put down their arms. What they saw shocked them.

"Orihime…," Tatsuki said stunned.

"What happened to her," Uryū asked himself?

"She's…," Rukia tried to say.

"She's a soul reaper," Ichigo finished still stunned at what he was seeing. Orihime was no longer in her normal clothes. They had been replaced by a silk white shihakushō. What shocked them even more was what she was holding. A zanpakutō was firmly in her right hand. The blade look like it was almost two feet long. The braid wrapped around the handle was golden. The guard was the same shape and color of her hairpins.

"Well well, this is very interesting," Noburu commented. "Who are you exactly?" She lifted her blade over you left shoulder.

"Koten Zanshun," she called as she swung her newly acquired zanpakutō forward. A golden arc fired off of the blade and headed high speed towards the First Hollow. He stepped aside just in time as the attack passed him. She was soon on the offensive. Noburu found himself barely able to dodge the young woman's attacks. She was relentless in her assault. He disappeared from her sight. She quickly turned around and brought up her left arm. Noburu's attack made contact with a small golden triangular shield. She pushed his arm aside and brought down her blade. Noburu barely escaped the tip of the blade. Hayato watched over the battle with interest. He soon felt a tug on his shoulder.

"What the hell did you do to her," Ichigo demanded? Hayato just gave him a stern look. "What the hell did you do to Orihime? She is not acting like herself."

"Ichigo is right," Uryū joined in. "She is acting outside her nature." Hayato took a moment to think about it.

"A side effect of the process."

"What process," Rukia asked? "Just what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything to her. Hoshi gave Orihime her power. It appears that Orihime not only gained Hoshi's power but her battle instincts as well."

"Who's Hoshi," Chad asked?

"Hoshi is…," he stopped himself for a moment. The others took note to a hint of sadness that crossed his face for a moment. "Hoshi was the First Soul Reaper."

"If Orihime is a soul reaper now, then where is her body," Uryū asked. The brown haired soul reaper gave him a questionable look. "Take Ichigo for example. In order for him to fight as a soul reaper he has to eject his soul from his body. So I'll ask again, where is hers." The rest had been confused by what Uryū was saying until they took the time to look where Orihime had been standing when she released her power. There was no sign of her human body.

"She doesn't need to eject her soul to use her power," Hatayo finally answered. "The power of the first soul reaper is unique and hasn't been effect by evolution. So Hoshi, Orihime, and myself can fight in our human bodies."

"Yourself," Ichigo asked? Before the question could be pressed further they were interrupted by the ongoing battle.

Noburu fired of a cero while a golden arc shot out from Shun Shun Rikka came towards him. When there attacks met an explosion was the resulting response. The smoke from the contact was soon blasted away form a shockwave. Orihime and Noburu were at the epicenter. They both disappeared then reappeared at a different location, their attacks meeting head on. They continued to do this little dance for a minute before they put some distance between themselves.

"Where did you get all this power from girl," Noburu asked? Orihime only answered with silence. "Not going to answer? No matter. Once this battle is over it will be mine." In one loud boom he was behind her. He swung his fist forward to strike her down. But Orihime quickly turned around and grabbed his forearm. He was about to pull away but he hesitated when he saw the blue eyes again. His hesitation gave Orihime all the opening she needed. In a matter of seconds she flung Noburu's arm aside, firmly grabbed the handle of her zanpakutō with both hands, brought the blade up and swung down across the First Hollow's torso. The shock on his face was unmistakable. He quickly jumped away from her. He pressed his hand against his chest and felt the warm liquid oozing from the deep gash. He looked back at the girl. This time he didn't just see blue eyes overshadowing her hazel ones. Now he saw an entire ghostly body over hers. The body consisted of silver hair and blue eyes. The realization slapped him across the face. "What did you do," he demanded. His angered spiked at her silence. "What the hell have you done with my sister?"

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><p><strong>AN: **I did it again didn't I. To be fair the only hints I really gave to the Firsts being siblings instead of lovers was their blue eyes and Hoshi's interest in Orihime's brother. I hope my explanation for Orihime's OOCness was good enough. Remember the process was for her was different from Ichigo's. I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter: the true story of the Firsts.


	12. The Firsts

**A/N:** Here is the next chapter. This chapter is the backstory of my ocs. I hope you enjoy.

Continuing readers I've added information that I forgot to add in the last chapter which pretty much said that Hoshi, Noburu, Hayato and now Orihime all fight in their human bodies and not as souls like other soul reapers and hollows.

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><p><strong>The Firsts<strong>

"Sister," Ichigo asked in confusion? "What's he talking about?" The battle had completely changed. There was no focus in the fight anymore. Only blind fury and destruction. Noburu was angry. He was beyond angry, he was furious. Orihime was having no problem dodging the attacks sent her way. Trees lay scattered over the area. The earth was scared by craters and trenches.

"Yes," Hatayo answered the carrot top's undirected question. "Noburu and Hoshi were brother and sister." Any further questions were interrupted by a sudden shockwave and blast of air. At the epicenter, Orihime and Noburu stood; the First Hollow's fist pushing against the goddess' sword. Noburu gave her a fierily glare into the stern eyes of Orihime. The same stern eyes that his sister gave him in their battles.

"Stop looking at me like that," he yelled! He threw up his free hand and charged up a cero. Orihime quickly jumped back but the attack was soon on her; she brought up her left arm in defense. The cero was quickly stopped by the Santen Kesshun. "You bitch! Just die already!" He launched himself forward with his arm stretched back. Once he was within range he stretched his arm forward; however instead of making contact with his attended target he hit the open palm of the auburn haired girl. She quickly closed her hand around his and brought down her sword. The First Hollow quickly forced himself away from the girl while pressing his hand against his newly acquired gash. "How? How do you seem to know every move I'll make?" He glared at Orihime. "Where is my sister? What have you done with her?"

"You sister told me everything about you and her," Orihime answered him.

* * *

><p>She stood still as the cool liquid moved past her lower legs. She lay in wait for her prey to approach her. A shadow swiftly moved towards her. She steadied her hands and readied herself and waited for it to get closer. As soon as it was at her feet she pounced. Her hands wrapped around the creatures body and pulled it out of the water.<p>

"I did it," the young girl cried. Her separation was premature as the fish's fin slapped her across the face. "Ow!" The fish slipped out of her grip as she pressed her hands against her cheek. Laughter broke out from behind her. "It's not funny," she said as she turned around to face her source of the laughter.

"Yes it is," her older brother teased. Hoshi just gave him a pouting look. "Ok, ok, I'll stop." Noburu got up from where he had been supervising his little sister and entered the river and approached her. "You are doing it all wrong." He turned her around and gently held onto her wrist. "You need to keep your hands in the water" As she put her hands back into the water her brother helped keep them steady. "Now we wait patiently." It took minutes before another fish to come by. Hoshi wanted to lash out and grab it but her brother kept her hands in place. Soon the fish moved in between her hands. "Now," her brother said quietly. She closed her hands around the fish and pulled it out. A smile was etched into her face at her success. "That a girl."

They got out of the river and collected the other caught fish and head back to their band. On the way back Hoshi decided to play a game of chase with her brother. She began to run ahead against Noburu's protest. In her haste she did not realize that she was heading for a hole. Her brother tried to get out a warning but it was too late. She toppled over as she fell into a deep dark cave.

"Hoshi," her brother called out to her! She looked around the dark cave, with what little light that came through the hole, she found herself surrounded by strange silvery-gray earth. "Hoshi are you alright?" She looked up to see the worried face of her brother looking down on her.

"I'm fine brother."

"I'm coming down to get you," he said as he started to enter through the hole.

* * *

><p>"<em>That strange looking earth that I was surrounded by would change me and my brother forever," Hoshi told Orihime. "Only in recent history have I learned what it was. Plutonium. Eventually it would cause problems with our band."<em>

* * *

><p>"I swear mother, I saw something," she tried to convince her mother. Noburu stood silently nearby.<p>

"I'm sure you did," mother responded dully.

"I really did. Tell her brother." Her brother just looked at her for a moment before walking over to her.

"I'll talk to her mother," he said as he grabbed onto her hand and led her away to somewhere more privet. "Hoshi."

"Bother why won't you tell her. You saw it to." They had both been at the edge of the camp that made up their band of forty-five people. There they had seen a stranger with something strange hanging from their chest. Before either one of them could confront the stranger said stranger disappeared into thin air.

"Little Star," he called to her using his nickname for her. "I believe this is something we should keep to ourselves."

"But why?"

"I don't think anyone else can see what we can see. I don't know how and I don't know why but you and I are special. But it might not sit well with the others if we start talking about things that they can't see. Do you understand?" She thought about it for a moment before nodding.

* * *

><p>"<em>So my and I brother kept our special secret. For years we continued to see things that we would eventually learn were sprits. However our secret could not stay so for long."<em>

* * *

><p>An elder had died. Not just any elder. The elder had been their grandfather. Noburu and their grandfather had been close. So when their grandfather's sprit showed himself to them Noburu could help but talk to him. This eventually led to confrontation with the rest of the band who felt like he was disrespecting the ancestors. He was banished from the band when he persisted. Hoshi would have none of it. The moment the others weren't looking she ran off to join her brother.<p>

"What are we going to do now," Little Star asked?

"I don't know Hoshi." He looked back to see a sad look etched into her face. "But we'll figure it out. So keep a smile up." She looked up to him and did so. "That a girl." Many years would go by as they traveled. These years would be filled with joy and hardship. One day they got into a long forgotten argument. Noburu would keep on yell as Hoshi tried to calm him down. Fate reared its ugly head at that moment. As they argued at the bottom of a cliff and earth began to shake. The shaking grew more and more violent. Eventually small rocks began to fall from the edge of the cliff. Bigger ones began to fall soon after. As the shaking went on the rocks that follow. Soon the siblings were buried in rubble. They should have been dead, but Hoshi soon dug herself out.

"Brother," she struggled to call out while in pain. "Brother!" Then she felt it. An energy that she only now noticed but felt like it had always been with her. She followed the source a short distance from where she stood and began to dig. She quickened the pace for the thought of being all alone was unbearable. To her great relieve she found him and pulled him from the rubble. She shook him, trying to get some response from him. What felt like minutes went by, which only increased her worry. His eyes eventually opened.

"Hey now," he said while looking into her eyes. "What's with the worried look?"

"I thought I lost you." Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"Well I'm still here. So there should be a smile on your face." The smile quickly came into existence. "That a girl."

* * *

><p><em>"As the years went by we noticed that we were not ageing. We also notice a change within us. Both good…and bad."<em>

* * *

><p>"Look at this little sweet," one of the men said in lust. "Mind if we have a little fun with her?" The three men surrounded the siblings with swords at their hips.<p>

"Yeah we promise not to mess her up to badly," one of the others said. They each took a step closer.

"One more step and I'll make sure you regret it," Noburu threatened darkly.

"What are you going to do," the biggest man of the group asked? "Beat us with you bare hands while we swing away with our swords?"

"Something like that." The older sibling began to fight them. He proved to be far more powerful than the three men would of thought possible. However they soon over powered him with cheap blows and tricks. They then turned their attention to the girl. Hoshi grabbed a thick branch from the side of the path that she and her brother had been walking down in an attempt to defend herself and her brother. Her gesture only served to amuse the men as the big one prepared to swing his sword at the branch. Time came to a standstill.

_Do you really attend to fight them off with that?_ A famine voice called out to her. A woman with long green hair dressed in a green kimono with even darker green flower designs seemly appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you?" The woman sighed in disappointment.

_I see that you still can't hear me._ Hoshi was confused by the cryptic response. _In due time then I guess. Do you wish to save your brother? _Hoshi gave a firm nod. _Then I will lend you my power. _Time began to flow by as normal. There was a sudden burst of green light. Instead of hitting the branch, the man's sword hit another sword. The men's' eyes widened in fear.

"She's a witch," one of them yelled as he turned around and ran. He was soon followed by the others. Hoshi looked at what she now held in her hands. The blade was about two feet. The braid wrapped around the handle was green. The guard was in the shape of a star.

"Hoshi how did you…," Noburu was too surprised to finish his question?

"I don't know." She quickly shook of her thoughts and went to her brother's side. To her relieve her brother's wounds were beginning to heal quickly on their own. "Are you going to be okay now?"

"I'll be fine." However he felt something growing within him. Years would go by before Noburu would realize that a hunger that he could not get rid of by simply eating. One day when he was alone he came across a soul. The very sight and smell of the sprit magnified his hunger. He lunged out and ate the soul. The soul lessened the pain slightly. But something else was building up with in him as well. One day Hoshi saw what he did.

"Brother," she cried! "What have you done?" Her brother looked into her eyes to only see fear.

"Hoshi… I" He took a step forward only for her to take two steps back. A bit of pain emanated from his chest. "Little Star. I… I couldn't control myself." She looked at him with confused worry. "For the longest time I've had this unsatisfied hunger. A long time ago I came across a soul. Before I knew what I was doing I devoured him."

"Brother…"

"I've tried to stop," he said bowing his head in shame. "But the pain is too much to bear. I don't know…" He stopped when he felt a gentle embrace. He picked up his head to find his sister.

"We'll figure it out together." He smiled

"Always there for me. That a girl." That would be the last time she would hear those three words.

* * *

><p>It was a late full moon night. She was trying to get some sleep but rustling kept on disturbing her. She opened her eyes and saw that the fire was still going. There was more rustling that came from the other side of the fire. She got up and walked over to her brother. She reached out to wake him; suddenly he woke up and lashed out at her. Hoshi's quick reflexes are what saved her. Noburu jumped up and chased after her.<p>

_Defend yourself! _The voice called out to her. She quickly pulled out her sword just in time for her brother's hand to come into contact. She could see pain, sorrow and hunger in his eyes.

"Brother!" Her voice created realization in his eyes. He jumped back creating as much distance as he could. "Brother?"

"Run," he struggled to say. "Get away from me. Far away. I can't contain it any longer."

"But brother…"

"Runaway now!"

_Listen to him. You not ready for this. _Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes as she looked into the pleading face of her brother. She turned around and quickly ran.

* * *

><p>"<em>It wasn't the last time I would see my brother. For more years then I dare to count we came in contact. Each battle I could see the brother I knew and love slipping away. After each battle I felt more alone," Hoshi looked across the cavern to the man she fell in love with. "But I would soon find someone to give me a reason to keep going."<em>

* * *

><p>Hoshi slowly walked through the forest clutching the recent wound on her arm that she had received in a battle against her brother. She had also wounded him forcing the both to retreat from battle but she had to get as far away as she could for she did not have regeneration powers like Noburu. The loss of blood was making her head spin. She didn't notice that she was heading for a steep slope. By the time she realized what she was heading for she had already tripped. Her body rolled down the hill until it reached the bottom slamming into a tree knocking her unconscious. When she woke up she found herself lying in a bed bandaged up. As she struggled to get up the pain in her arm made her groan. She saw that she was in a small room.<p>

"Ah, you are awake," a man's voice said from outside. When he in came she saw that he had short brown hair and eyes. "Are you alright. You were seriously hurt."

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name is Hayato. This is my home. I found you with a nasty wound in the forest. What happened to you?" She looked away; just thinking about how she got the wound caused her great discomfort. She tried to get up but the pain from her wound made that difficult. "You shouldn't move around too much. You don't want to reopen that wound. It may take a few days before you can move." With that she laid back down, the sooner her wound healed the sooner she could continue on her mission. The mission to save her brother. "What's your name?" She was hesitant but she chose to answer.

"Hoshi. My name is Hoshi." She was there for days waiting for her wound to heal. In that time she had planned on taking off the moment she got the chance but as each day pass she could help but feel something for the man that had been taking care of her. She didn't know what the feeling was. So she decided to stay for a while younger until her injury fully healed. It would prove to make a mistake on her part.

"Who are you," she heard Hayato ask someone from outside. How did she not feel him coming? She grabbed her sword had ran outside, but she was too late. She had just gotten out in time to see Hayato fall to the ground, her brother standing over him.

"Hello sister. Made a new friend I see. I'm not good enough for anymore." She looked down at Hayato as he quivered from pain. She never felt so angry in her long life. Her grip tightened on her handle. "Well I never felt this kind of power from you before. Was it something I said?"

_You can still save Hayato. _The sprit from within her told her.

_But how? _Hoshi asked.

_First you must fight you brother with everything you have. Now hear my name._ Hoshi pulled her blade from its sheath and called out to it.

"Appear in the east, Akenomyōsei (Morning Star)!" A green light emanated from the blade. The blade was soon a foot longer.

"What the hell is this?" She lifted up her blade and pointed at him. A green bolt of light shot out from the blade and went through Noburu's right arm. The shock on his face is unmistakable. "Wh… what?" He pressed his hand against newly acquired wounded. He turned around and quickly disappeared. Hoshi quickly went to Hayato's side. He had lost a lot of blood.

"What do I do?"

_You need to give a part of yourself to him. _Akenomyōsei told her.

_But how?_

_You need to concentrate a small amount of you energy outside of your body. _Hoshi focused a small point of reiatsu at the tip of her finger. She tried to put it into Hayato's body but nothing happened. _He needs to take it in himself._

"Hayato, can you hear me." He opened his eyes in response. "If you want to live you need to accept this into your body. Then I promise to tell you everything." He grabbed onto the small point of light and pressed it against his chest. In a minute his body began to shake violently for a short period of time. When it stopped he sat up feeling like he had been reborn.

* * *

><p>"Kaimetsu sa seru," Hayato yelled as he swung his large blade unleashing a wave of fire at his opponent.<p>

"You missed again Hayato," Noburu said cockily. Hayato quickly disappeared and reappeared in front of him bringing down his blade. Fenikkusu made contact but it did not causing any injury. "You still not strong enough." With one swift kick he slammed Hayato into the ground. "Now you die." His palm began to glow red as he prepared to unleash a cero but the attack was dissipated when a green bolt of light hit it. He looked down at his sister who stood at the ready. "I think it is time he finished this my dear little sister." He charged down at her ready to finish her, but she said one word that was unknown to him and made him stop in confusion.

"Bankai," she said with a serene voice. There was a bright flash of green light. When the light dissipated Hoshi was wearing a green nabi kimono with yellow obi. Her sword had reverted back to its original length. It took Noburu a minute to shake of the new development and renew his charge. The moment he a foot away he swung his fist forward but instead of making contact he passed right through her.

"What the hell?" He quickly turned around only to find her gone.

"I'm behind you." The First Hollow quickly swung his arm back only to pass through her again.

"How are you doing this," he yelled?

"Light my brother." He looked toward the direction that her voice game from to find her stand several yards away. "Light controls everything we see." He suddenly felt great pain across his chest. He looked down to see a deep gash. "It's over." He looked up to see her standing right in front of him. The attack had left him weak and he collapsed into unconsciousness. Hoshi raised her sword to give the finishing blow. She hesitated. She knew she should do it, but she couldn't. She dropped her sword as tears began to flow from her eyes, no matter what he was still her beloved brother. She raised her hand gave a chant. Soon her brother was incased in a black sphere and disappeared.

* * *

><p><em>What had felt like years, but had only been a day had pass<em>. _She had successfully absorbed Hoshi's reiatsu. Orihime walked out of the small room she had been put in and approached the First Soul Reaper who quietly laid in her bed._

"_It worked I see," Hoshi stated. Orihime nodded. "Good. You should go. You friends need you right now." Orihime could feel the distent battle going on and she could feel that her comrades her losing. She was about to make a mad dash for the exit before Hoshi called to her. "Orihime I have one request. Please save my brother. Please succeed…" her eyes began to close "Please succeed where I failed." Her eyes fully closed and her body began to glow. Sprital particals began to flow off her body. There was a sudden burst of light and what like a swarm of fireflies rose from the bed before slowly fading away._

"_I promise," Orihime gave her word._

* * *

><p>"What are you saying," Noburu asked. "That my sister gave you her power. Why? Why would she do that instead of coming to face me herself?"<p>

"She was dying Noburu, her body was giving out due to her long life," Orihime answered with sadness. Noburu's body tightened from the response. He looked over to Hayato who gave him a nod in confirmation. "She gave me her power as the final act in her life so there would be a chance to save you."

"My sister is dead? My Little Star is gone." He tightened his fist and gave a stern look to the woman that now stood before him. "Very well then." His reiatsu began to spike to extreme hights. "I was going to save this for my sister but now you have taken that away from me." There was a sudden explosion around the First Hollow that kicked up a massive amount of dirt. When the dust settled Noburu's appearance had changed. He was covered in armor that looked like a white exoskeleton. He wore a helmet that had horns of a devil. All that could be seen of his face was the area around his blue eyes. "So I guess I'll just use it against you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know using plutonium was probably a lame copout to give the powers that would eventually bring forth soul reapers and hollows but I couldn't really think of any other way that could explain a more natural way for it to of happen. As always I open to suggestions for improvements.


	13. True Power

**A/N: **Here is the conclusion to the final battle of my story. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>True Power<strong>

He stretched every muscle he could as he was getting use to his new form. He moved his head side to side. He rolled his shoulders. He clenched and unclenched his fist. Each movement caused a loud cracking sound. His reiatsu flooded the area making it difficult for the onlookers of the fight to breath. Noburu took in a deep breath and looked at the source of his frustration. The girl that had taken his sister away from him. The auburn haired woman eyes lacked the confidence and determination that they had since the start of the fight. They were now filled with worry and confusion.

"This is what you brought out girl," his deep voice slipped through his mask. "Now are you ready to continue. Because if you are not…" A loud boom echoed across the forest as he disappeared. "You'll die." He reappeared right in front of her. It took Orihime a full five seconds to register the First Hollow's close proximity. Once she did she jumped several feet back. She did not get far as Noburu quickly followed stretching out his clawed hand. Orihime was only able to get Shun Shun Rikka up a millisecond before he made contact with the blade. However the momentum did not end. Her feet dug into the ground as she was pushed back. Her back was pushed up against a tree. She quickly got out of the way as Noburu made a mighty swing. The force of his attack broke down several trees beyond.

"Koten Zanshun," Orihime yelled as she unleashed a golden arc of energy. Her attack quickly closed the distance between them and made contact with its attended target causing an explosion. She started to breath heavily as the intensity of the fight was beginning to catch up with her.

"What was that supposed to be," she heard Noburu speak from behind her. "I hardly felt that." She slowly turned around to face her opponent. "Don't tell me that my transformation has caused this much of a difference in our power." Before she could she could even react his fist collided with her chest sending her flying in the opposite direction. Her body pounced off the ground a couple of times before she could right herself. She then propelled her body forward raising her blade ready to strike.

Once she was in range she swung her blade down, unfortunately she missed and the blade only met the earth; Noburu had barely moved to dodge the attack. She was forced to jump back as a kick came her way; she was barely able to dodge it. Once she was far enough away she quickly got into a stance but found it difficult to keep her balance. She was still struggling to catch her breath as her body began to feel heavy. Her complications did not go unnoticed by Hayato.

_Damn it. _He thought. _We were afraid this would happen. But it is too soon. What is she waiting for?_ His thoughts were interrupted as a shockwave passed through him. The epicenter of the blast had Orihime and Noburu pushing against each other. Each playing for dominance over the fight.

"Now that is more like it," the First Hollow commented as he found it more difficult to push the auburn haired girl back. "But it is still not good enough!" Her stomach soon felt his foot digging in. The resulting force pushed her back; her feet creating trench marks as they dug in to the ground keeping her from falling over. By the time she regained her focus Noburu's claws were already inches from her face. She quickly kicked herself away avoiding the brunt of the attack however she could feel that her cheek was stinging. She pressed her hand against the source of the sting and felt the warm red liquid flowing down her cheek. "Still have good reflexes I see. Had you hesitated a moment longer you would of lost your head."

"Koten Zanshun!" Orihime fired off another attack, this time with everything she had. The golden arc quickly approached Noburu. The target raised his hand and grabbed the attack. With one squeeze of his hand the attack dissipated. Orihime was about ready to collapse but she pulled whatever strength she had left to keep herself standing. The moment she heard the boom she felt a searing pain across her back. She swung Shun Shun Rikka around but Noburu was already out of range.

She was about to launch herself forward when her body was rocked with pain from her very core. Her knees bulked from what felt like additional weight being added on to her. She stabbed her zanpakutō into the ground to keep herself from falling any further. While she was down Noburu lifted his hand and fired a cero. Orihime quickly lifted her arm and formed her Santen Kesshun, but it couldn't hold under the pressure. Her shield shattered and the attack overcame her slamming her into a tree.

"Orihime," Ichigo yelled! Hayato was too dumbfounded by the course of the battle to stop the orange haired substitute soul reaper as he propelled himself towards Noburu. The First Hollow didn't even look his way as he lifted his hand towards the insignificant threat and fired of a burst of energy pushing Ichigo back towards the others. His body slamming into the ground in front of older soul reaper.

"I don't understand," Hayato said to himself. The others looked at him in confusion.

"What," Rukia asked? "What do you not understand?" The brown eyed and haired soul reaper looked down at the boy still on the ground.

"Tell me why?"

"Why what," Ichigo asked not understanding the question.

"Why is she holding back?"

"What," the others said in astonishment?

"Are you saying she has more power than this," Tatsuki asked? Hayato quickly studied the scene before him. He was able to find the answer in Orihime's body language and reiatsu. She was afraid, afraid of her own power.

"If she is going to win, she needs all of your support," he told the others.

"Come on Orihime," Keigo was the first to speak up, "you can beat him!"

"Show him what you are made of," Mizuiro called out.

"Go Orihime," Chad gave his support.

"Use all of you power," Uryū advised.

"Go all the way," Rukia gave her support.

"Take him down," Tatsuki told her longtime friend.

"We believe in you," Ichigo spoke to her.

She looked towards her friends. She had been holding back. Afraid of the power she now had. As the fight had been going on it felt like parts of herself were slipping away. But none of that mattered now. Her friends believed in her. They were counting on her. She picked herself up, ignoring the pain emanating from her body. She brought Shun Shun Rikka close to her face.

"Bankai," she whispered. A burst of golden light bathed the entire area blinding everyone. A powerful but warm reiatsu could be felt by all. As the light dimmed and everyone regained their eye sight Orihime's true form was revealed to them. Her zanpakutō was gone. Golden armor hugged her shoulders, torso and legs. A golden cloak rest over her armor. All of her injuries had disappeared as if she never received them. Her body seemed to reflect the sunlight making her glow. She opened her eyes all concern had vanished.

"That's it," Noburu commented? "This is your true power?" He looked her up and down. "Pathetic." He raised his hand as it began to glow red. "You were foolish to come and face me. Even more foolish to get rid of your sword. Now you will die for your incompetence" His attack charged, he unleashed the red beam of energy. The cero soon covered the distance between him and Orihime. The attack blocked his view of her before it made contact. As the dust settled Orihime could be seen, in the same spot she had been standing moments before. Not a scratch was on her. "I may have spoken too soon. Perhaps you can still provide a challenge."

He quickly pulled his arm back and clenched his fist. A red glow began to emanate indicating he was charging a bala. He pushed his arm forward unleashing his attack. The bala closed in at supersonic speeds towards its target. However something happened that baffled everyone. She didn't dodge the attack. She didn't deflect. It didn't even hit her. The bala simple disappeared before it even reached her.

"What the hell just happened," Noburu asked himself? He slammed his wrist together. His palms and fingers pointing towards the goddess. Each fingertip began to glow red. "Whatever you did, let's see you do it with multiple attacks!" Each fingertip fired of a miniature cero. Each flew towards their destination in a random path. However just like the larger cero, each disappeared before they could reach Orihime. She hadn't moved a muscle, she didn't even blink. She was rooted to the spot she had been in since she activated her bankai. Noburu was dumbfounded. "Just who the hell are you?"

"What's going on," a confused Ichigo asked? "Has she even moved or done anything at all?"

"No," an equally confused Uryū answered. "She has just been standing there the whole time. This doesn't seem to be the work of her Santen Kesshun." As silence rested over group they looked on trying to figure out what was going on. That silence was broken by a groan.

"What happened," a groggy voice asked? Rukia looked down at the source of the voice and saw Renji's eyes slowly open. There was absolutely no sign that he had ever been injured.

"Ren… Renji?" She could feel tears of joy starting form at the corners of her eyes. "You're alive."

"But how," Tatsuki asked in bewilderment. "Orihime hasn't even used her Sōten Kisshun." A cloud began to pass over the area covering the sun from view, but the light didn't leave. All of their eyes widen in shock as the realization dawned on them. Light hadn't been reflecting off of their princess when she activated her bankai. Light had been emanating from her the whole time, as if she were the goddess Amaterasu herself.

Noburu looked into the young girl's gray eyes. They were not filled with confidence and determination. Nor were they filled with worry and confusion. They were filled with pity and sadness for him. That stare only filled him with anger and frustration.

"Stop looking at me like that," he yelled! He dug his claws of one hand into the opposing hand spilling his own blood. He latched his on cut hand onto his opposing forearm and starched it towards his opponent. A blue ball of energy began to spark to life. "Let's see you stop this!" He unleashed a hollows most powerful attack, the grand ray cero. The blue beam sped towards the goddess at extreme speeds. The First Hollow saw his attack hit and continue to move forward tearing trees from their roots. A smirk was etched into his face, victory was finally his. As the dust settled however that smile was wiped away. She was still there. In the very spot she had been in the whole time. Her domineer hadn't even changed. "What the hell are you?" She took one step forward. "Stay away from me!"

The goddess stopped at the yell of fear from the First Hollow. She took in a deep breath and raised her palm towards the sky. Small particles of golden reiatsu began to appear around her. Each particle made its way towards her hand forming a disk. The spinning disk soon started to collapse on itself. A sphere quickly expanded across the disk. However the sphere seemed unstable. It began to fluctuate. In an instant it shrunk down to the size of a marble. The density of the small orb caused a crater to form underneath Orihime's feet.

"You think that pitiful attack will stop me," Noburu screamed! He tightly clenched his fist charging up an enclosed cero. "Let me show you a real attack!" With as much force as he could muster her lunged forward and pulled his arm back. He was only a few yards away when he forced his arm towards her. Orihime enclosed her hand on the small orb and flung her arm forward. Before anyone knew what happened a massive explosion kicked earth up into the sky. The blast of wind and dirt forced everyone to bring their arms up to their face. Once the wind had settled they brought their arms down and what they next struck fear into them. From the column of smoke Noburu appeared.

"It's over," he said quietly. Thousands of cracks began to appear over his rock hard skin. In an instant it shattered. As he began to fall back all he could say was, "It's finally over." The smoke column cleared revealing Orihime still standing tall. A tear christened her cheek. "Why do you cry?" The goddess looked at where the First Hollow lay. "Do not feel sorrow at causing my end," he said gently. "You have brought an end to all the pain I have felt for thousands of years. I haven't felt so relieved in so long. My sister made the right choice. So please do not feel pain for what you have done. Be proud." Orihime contemplated his words for a minute. She took in a deep breath and gave a small smile. Noburu smiled back. As his body began to glow and spite particles began to escape him he gave his final words, "That a girl." In a bright flash he was gone. All that was left were the particles of reiatsu that rose to the sky and slowly faded away.

"Orihime?" She looked towards the speaker to see Ichigo approach her. Before she could answer him a heavy pressure bore down onto the area everyone but herself was forced to the ground. None of them could even get onto their knees. Out of concern she attempted to get to them. However after her first step her world began to spin. Her body felt too heavy and she fell towards the ground. Everything went black before she even hit the ground. "Orihime!" Ichigo struggled to get up but he could barely even move. "What's going on?"

"This is Orihime's reiatsu," Uryū struggled to answer. "It's out of control."

"Damn it," Hayato yelled! "We were afraid this would happen."

"What," Rukia asked? "What is happening?"

"All that power she gained in such a short amount of time is now taking its toll on her. Her body can't contain all of it and is now trying to escape tearing her apart in the process."

"What can we do," Chad asked?

"Nothing now. We can't move."

_Damn it! _Ichigo thought. He looked towards Orihime seeing her body quivering in pain. _There has to be something I can do! Anything!_

_Shut up!_ A distant memory called to him. He remembered a blue blot of energy shooting up into the sky. _Live so I can kick your ass Ichigo! _He remembered his raven haired glass cladded friend say as the quincy fired another arrow into the sky releasing the energy that was racking havoc on his body. He remembered how the action had nearly torn Uryū arm apart. He now knew what he had to do. He slowly and painfully crawled towards the auburn haired girl that had just saved them all, dragging Zangetsu with him.

"Boy! What are you doing," Hayato called out to him? Ichigo chose to ignore him as he drew closer to Orihime. It took what felt like an eternity to reach her. He slowly got up on his knees and reached out to grab her arm. The moment he made contact his whole body screamed at him to let go; he chose to ignore his body's pleas and brought his zanpakutō over his shoulder.

"Getsuga Tenshō," he yelled as he flung Zangetsu into the air! For miles any spiritual aware being could see an odd mixture of black, red, and golden energy reaching for the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The final part of this chapter, from the bankai to the end, was fun to make. I've had it in my head for a very long time. I felt that if I was going to give Orihime a massive amount of power that there had to be a drawback to it. As for Ichigo, I felt like he deserved a hero moment, especially after how I have been getting his ass kicked throughout the story. Plus it makes for a nice Ichihime moment. I hope you enjoyed. As always I'm open to suggestions for improvements.


	14. Sleeping Princess and Worried Protector

**A/N: **A quick update. I got a busy month ahead of me so I'm trying to get this story done in the next week. I hope you enjoy.

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><p><strong>Sleeping Princess and the Worried Protector<strong>

Ichigo was on his knees panting from the amount of reiatsu that had just flowed through his body. He could have never expected that it would have been that intense. His body was still shacking and calling him an idiot even though a few minutes had already gone by. How Orihime gained so much power from one person was beyond him at the moment. The only comfort that he could get was that her reiastu was now stabilizing.

"Orihime!" He turned to see Tatsuki running towards them, concern etched into her face. As soon as she got to them she went to her close friend's side and started to look her over. Checking her for any wounds, a pulse and to see if she was still breathing. To her relieve, Orihime was fine. Their other friends began to encompass them to see Orihime for themselves and to release their own worries. All of them were still stressed out from the reiastu that had bore down on them, but none of that mattered to them, just as long as their friend was safe. Their peaceful reunion was soon interrupted by the senior soul reaper.

"That was very stupid," Hayato said. He was quickly met with several angry glares. "Stupid in the sense that you were likely to get killed in that action. However it was very brave and admirable, which counts in the end." He let out a sigh. "Unfortunately you only delayed the inevitable."

"What are you talking about," Ichigo struggled ask as he was still trying to catch his breath.

"You may have stabilized her reiatsu at the moment but it is only a matter of time before Orihime's reiatsu reaches critical mass again." They all turned to face their sleeping friend and felt that he was right. Slowly but surely her reiatsu was rising.

"What are we supposed to do," Tatsuki asked in worry. Hayato contemplated his options for a minute. He took in a deep breath when he found that he really had only one option. He slowly stepped forward; he walked past everyone without looking at them and got on to his knees by Orihime's side.

"I can place a seal over her. This is the only way but with some drawbacks." They all looked at him with questionable stares, their protective natures for the princess taking over.

"What kind of drawbacks," Uryū asked?

"She will lose all the power she has gained. Her soul reaper powers and the full potential of her own powers."

"So she will not be able to use her powers anymore," Chad inquired? "Like Ichigo when he lost his powers?"

"No. She will maintain the power she had before Hoshi gave her powers to your friend. She will even be able to still build up her own powers."

"If it will save her do it," Tatsuki said after she thought about it. Hayato placed his hands a few inches above Orihime's chest, one hand resting over the other. A blue glow began to emanate from his palm. Small particles of reiatsu began to fall down to her. He began to sweat from the strain that he was putting himself through.

"Are you going to be alright," Ichigo asked noticing the pressure Hayato was going through. "You don't look so good."

"This is not as easy as it looks." He continued his work. There was so much reiatsu in the goddess' body that it was taking him longer than he expected. A glow began to surround her body, the first indication that his technique was working. "You might want to cover her up."

"What," was all Ichigo could say in response? He looked down and noticed that Orihime's armor and cloak was disappearing, however nothing was taking their place. He quickly took of his shihakushō off and draped it over her body while trying to ignore the blush spreading across his face. He missed the smirk that crossed Tatsuki face.

"See something you liked?"

"I didn't see anything," he yelled at her. Now his whole face was red.

"You better keep it that way," she said with a tone that said she would hurt him if not kill him. She may want them to be together but she didn't want things going too fast.

"I'm done," Hayato announced as he took in deep breaths. He stood up and staggered away towards a tree. The others crowded around their sleeping friend.

"Orihime," Ichigo called to her. He gave her a gentle shack. "Hey, you can wake up now." The only response he got was the slow rise and fall her chest. "Orihime wake up."

"It may be quite a while before she wakes," Hayato said as his back slid down a tree. "Her body has gone under a significant amount of stress. From the infusion of reiatsu to losing control of her power to the sealing of her powers."

"How long until she wakes up," Ichigo asked?

"Could be days, weeks, or even months." With each word he said his voice got weaker.

"Hey man, are you alright," Keigo asked? As if to answer his question Hayato's body began to glow and reiatsu particles began to escape his body.

"Not really," he said with a smile.

"What did you do," Uryū asked astonished?

"It took everything I had to place that seal. I did say there would be drawbacks didn't I."

"She would have never of wanted someone to sacrifice themselves for her," Tatsuki stated.

"She wasn't in a position to say anything."

"Why would you do this," Ichigo asked?

"She is young, she has a long life ahead of her. She also still has all of you. I on the other hand have lived for a very long time and have nothing left. The least I could do was give my life to save hers."

"Thank you," each one of them said to him. He gave a nod before he burst into light and the particles rise to the sky before disappearing.

* * *

><p>She walked down the hallway of the quiet floor of the Karakura Hospital towards the room her best friend was laying in. It had been a week already since the battle in the forest. But it felt like it had been a lot longer. So much had happened since. It took them time to get back to Karakura while transporting a comatose Orihime. Once they got back to town they decided that it would be best to keep her in the hospital where she could be carefully monitored. It took some convincing but Uryū's father accepted and put her somewhere where they could quietly watch over her.<p>

They then had to explain what happened to everyone; to the Shōten gang and Isshin. They then had to make an excuse to the school and their classmates to cover what happened. All they could do was tell them that Orihime had been in terrible accident and was left in a coma. The only person they told the truth to was Chizuru; who, to their surprise, took the news quite well.

Tatsuki continued her walk, carrying get well cards from her classmates, until she reached the door to her friend's room. She hesitated to walk in. In the week since she was there Orihime had shown no signs of improvement; it was hard to walk in and see her in such a state. She took in a deep breath and pushed the door open and she was not surprised to find that someone was already there. She saw Ichigo sitting at Orihime's bedside. It was like he had hardly moved the entire week.

"Ichigo," she tried greeting him. She only received a grunt in return. She went to the table on the other side of the room to set down the cards. When she turned around to see her friends she saw a depressed looking Ichigo. "Ichigo, none of this is your fault."

"I should have been stronger," he said with a disdained voice. "If I had been stronger she wouldn't have had to go so far for us to almost losing her life." Tatsuki clenched her fist in frustration. She was about to smack him when she noticed the time.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"School."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are!" She grabbed him by the back of his collar and began to drag him out. "Because Orihime would want you to."

* * *

><p>"<em>Good morning Ichigo." <em>He looked around the classroom that he just entered looking for the sound of the familiar voice. But there was no one. Had he really grown so accustomed to the good mornings he always received that without her he was just start hearing things. The rest of the day would go by uneventful and he would soon return to the hospital to the sleeping princess' side.

* * *

><p>Three more weeks had gone by and Orihime's condition still hadn't changed. While Ichigo sat at her side the others had gone to Kisuke to see what he could do to help. But the former twelve squad's captain said it would be better for her to recover naturally. Everyone was starting to get tired of Ichigo's worrying and beating himself up that they felt they had to do something.<p>

"Ichigo you need to stop this," Rukia told him. She didn't get a response back. "Look none of this is your fault. Orihime went through all of this in order to protect us."

"She shouldn't of had to. I should have been stronger. I should have been able to protect her." Suddenly he felt a fist burry itself into the side of his face knocking him off his chair.

"You idiot! She wants to protect you just as much as you want to protect her. Sitting here and moping about how you should have been the one protecting is insulting." After venting her frustration out Rukia stormed out of the room. Ichigo picked himself up from the ground and sat back down in the chair.

_None of them will understand. _He thought. _I can't lose someone again._

* * *

><p><em>I must have fallen asleep.<em> Ichigo thought to himself. _On something strange. _Whatever he was sleeping on felt prickly, but where ever he fell asleep felt warm.

"Time to wake up," a voice called to him. He chose to ignore it and oddly felt like burying himself into whatever he was sleeping on. There was a sigh and footsteps leading away from him. Soon those footsteps returned and he felt a cold liquid fall all over him. He shot up and coughed trying to catch his breath.

"What the hell!"

"It's about time you woke up. I didn't bring you here so you could sleep." He looked up to see a silver haired blue eyed woman wearing a white kimono.

"Who the hell are you?" He looked around to take in his surroundings. He was lying in a grass field bathed in a thick fog. "Where the hell am I?"

"All in due time." She turned around and began to walk away. Ichigo was hesitant at first but soon followed. They eventually came to a calm river. At least he now knew where the cold water came from. The mysterious woman seemly walked across the river without her feet going under. Ichigo on the other hand had to walk through the knee high river. Once he was out he saw that the woman was standing by a stone slab. Someone was lying on it. "Welcome to Orihime's inner world." Ichigo looked around the still foggy world, finding it hard to believe that he was in Orihime's soul. He then took noticed to who was lying on the stone slab. It was none other than a sleeping Orihime.

"How am I here," he asked as he slowly approached the sleeping goddess.

"I brought you here so we could have a little chat."

"Just who are you?"

"I am Hoshi… sort of."

"Hoshi? You're the First Soul Reaper. The one who gave Orihime all that power."

"The one and only." Ichigo took a swing to which Hoshi dodge as if his fist her going in slow motion. "Alright calm down." He took another swing, this time she didn't dodge. She brought up own hand and his fist made contact with her palm; she quickly closed her fingers around his hand and twisted his arm. "I said calm down."

"If you hadn't given her your power she wouldn't be in a coma right now."

"I warned her that she could die if she took my power. Besides if she hadn't taken it you and all you friends would be dead right now." She let him go once she felt his muscles relax.

"Why her?"

"Because she was the most promise. Her powers are beyond anything I have ever seen." There was a moment's hesitation before she continued. "She also knows what it is like to lose a sibling to hollowfication."

"What did you mean when you said you were sort of Hoshi?"

"I am a fragment or a shadow of the real Hoshi. I am the side effect you could say that the process of infusing mine and Orihime's powers."

"You're the one who influenced her during the battle," Ichigo stated as he watched over the sleeping Orihime.

"Most of it."

"So you were controlling her."

"No. It was more like I was giving her advice. Although our power infused one could dominate the other. Most of the fight while she was in shikai my power was the most dominate. That was why my brother couldn't touch her. I knew each move he would make and passed that knowledge onto Orihime. But when she activated her bankai that all changed. Her power far exceeded my own."

"What about the seal that Hayato placed on Orihime? Did you make him do that?" She remained silent for a few minutes.

"I would have never asked him to sacrifice himself for anyone, including myself. He always seemed to be so focused on my wellbeing that he never considered his own. And he passed that care on to Orihime." She took a deep breath after remember what he did to save Orihime. "The seal is not perfect but it is good enough to keep her reiatsu from going out of control again."

"What do you mean it's not perfect," he asked in concern.

"She'll maintain a small about of her soul reaper powers. But not even close enough to give you even her shikai." She felt it, her time was almost up. She took one last look around her surroundings. "This place can be quite beautiful when she is in the right state of mind. Now for the main reason for why I brought you here."

"And what would…" He didn't get a chance to finish as Hoshi's fist collided with his face. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

"For being an idiot. You really need to listen to your friends more and stop bearing all that weight on your shoulders." She began to fade away. "And you need not worry about your girlfriend." She laughed when she saw his face turn red. "She'll wake up very soon. Her body just needed the rest." When she disappeared, Ichigo felt himself being gentle pulled out of the world.

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><p>He woke up in the hospital room set aside for Orihime. He picked his aching head up from the bedside table.<p>

"I see you are finally awake," some said from the other side of the bed. He turned to see Tatsuki looking at him with a stern stare.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Sorry about the way I've been acting."

"Wait, what did you just say," she asked astonished.

"You and the others are right. I'm being stupid about this." He looked down on the sleeping auburn haired girl and smiled. "I should go home. I'm sure I've made my sister worried enough." He got up from where he sat and began to leave the room.

"Alright… uh… see you later then," she said still a little confused by his sudden change.

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><p>Another week went by, but this one was by far the easiest one with Ichigo not acting like a "depressed moron" as Rukia had put it. The whole gang had gathered in Orihime's room having a casual discussion when a sudden shift under the sheets caught their attention. Orihime squeezed her eyes shut and then slowly opened them. She slowly took in her surroundings and then smiled at all her friends.<p>

"Hey there," Ichigo greeted her with a smile.

"Hey," Orihime said back in a tired voice but still smiling. "How long have I been asleep?" They all looked at each other wondering how to break the news to her.

"Well Orihime, you've been in a coma for five weeks," Uryū said deciding it would be best not to dance around the subject.

"Is that all… Five weeks!" Orihime sat up quickly, she soon regretted it as her head began to spin and she fell to her side into a pair of strong arms.

"Hey, take it easy," Ichigo said gently. "You just woke up."

"But I've been asleep for too long." Her eyes began to get heavy. "I don't want to fall asleep again." She couldn't stop her body's will as she slipped back into unconscious.

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><p>She woke up to a dark moonlit room. She could tell that she was still in a hospital room based on her surroundings. She felt some movement next to her. When she turned she found Ichigo waking up from where he sat.<p>

"Hey there." She blushed realizing that he was the only one in the room with her.

"Hi," was all she could say in response.

"How do you feel?"

"Tried," she said with a yawn. He smiled at her response.

"Yeah, you might be like that for a while. You'll still recovering."

"How are the others doing? Did they all make it out okay after the fight?"

"Yeah. And it is all thanks to you." He gave her a proud smile. She smiled back but soon began to feel sleepiness take over her. "You should get some rest so you can be up and about in no time." It took another week before Orihime could stay awake for a long period of time. When Ryūken felt that she no longer needed the assistance of the hospital he gave her the okay to go home under the condition that she would be supervised for another week. Somehow everyone but Ichigo had an excuse that made it incapable for them to watch her the whole week. For some reason he didn't mind.

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><p>"Sorry we can't stay longer Orihime," Rukia told Orihime as she and Renji were preparing to leave. The group was just outside the hospital waiting for the cab that Ichigo had called to take Orihime and himself to her apartment.<p>

"It's okay Rukia," Orihime said from the comfort of her wheelchair that Ichigo had insisted she stay in outside while she recovered so she would collapse and injured herself. "I understand. So don't look so guilty okay."

"Alight," Rukia said with a smiled. _She just has to always be considerate of others, doesn't she?_

"I want to thank you Orihime," Renji said. "You saved my life." The two soul reapers left soon after. The cab arrived and took Ichigo and Orihime to her apartment. Ichigo assisted her up the stairs to her apartment door. Once inside he began to help her towards her bed when she tripped over her own feet. Ichigo was quick to catch her. He wasn't however quick to let her go. They just stood there, rooted to the spot as they drew closer to each other.

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><p><strong>AN: **I kind of struggled with part of this story. I wanted Rukia and Tatsuki to get Ichigo what of his depression but I also want him to meet Hoshi. I hope I found a proper balance between the two. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Only one more to go. As always I'm open to suggestions for improvements to my writing.


	15. Epilogue

**A/N: **I hope you have enjoyed my story so far. Here it is the last chapter.

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

The little boy ran as fast as he could through the near empty park. It was a run of fun and joy but of fear. A monster of nightmares was chasing him down; an aurora of hunger surrounding it. The chain on his chest rattled as he ran for his life. All he had wanted was to find his family but now he had to keep himself from being eaten. As he ran his feet ran into each other causing him to fall face first into the ground. The beast let out a roar of victory as it came down on the boy. The young child let out a scream for help that he knew no one would hear. He waited and waited and waited for the pain of his end to come, but it never did. He picked himself up from the ground and turned to see the nightmarish creature slowly dissolve.

"Are you alright?" he heard someone from behind him say. He turned to see a long auburn haired woman stand before him. He couldn't help but feel calm at the young woman's presence. She seemed to glow like the sun and produced its warmth as well. All he could do was stare in awe. "Little boy, are you alright?"

"Are you an angle?" was all he could say. The girl blushed at the comparison being made about her. She rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously.

"No, I'm no angle," she said with a kind smile.

"But… But that monster… and you...," the little boy tried to say.

"Oh, that. Well I guess you could say that I'm a superhero!" She put her fist onto her hips and stood up tall to be dramatic. The boy just deadpanned. "But you still haven't answered my question. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," he said but then he pondered for a moment. "No I'm not okay."

"What's wrong?" The boy responded only in silence. She felt she the need to create more of a connection with the little boy in order to get him to tell her. "My name is Orihime. What's yours?"

"Kenji," the boy responded.

"That's a nice name. How old are you Kenji?"

"I'm twelve." Orihime gave him a small smile.

"You almost a man Kenji."

"I am a man," the boy pouted. Orihime placed her hand on top of his head and began to ruffle his hair gentle.

"Then tell me what's wrong." She gave him a kind stare. "A real man doesn't bury their emotions." Kenji looked into the goddess' eyes and saw only warmth and kindness.

"I…I… I can't find my family!" the boy cried. He ran into her and hugged her as the tears flowed from his eyes. "I've looked everywhere for them but I can't find them." Orihime began to rub his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"Tell me what happened."

"I remember being in the car with my parents and big sister. We were on our way from our grandparents home in the country and… I think something hit us. The next thing I knew I work up on the side of the road with this chain on my chest and my family was nowhere to be seen. I've been looking from them ever since." Orihime listen to the young boy's sad tale and could only feel remorse for him at his lost.

"I think I know what happened to your family." Kenji looked up into her eyes looking for the answer. "You family has moved on to the next life," she said gentle. The boy stiffened at the news and the realization of what happened.

"Why… Why would the leave me behind?" he cried. "Why would they not take me with them?"

"They would never leave you behind." He quitted down upon hearing this. "Sometimes people find themselves stuck here, they need help to move on to the Soul Society."

"The Soul Society?"

"The Soul Society is a place where souls go to live their new lives. That's where your family is." She gave him such a serene smile that he felt warmth spread through him. "I can send you there to search for your family."

"You can do that?" She gave him a polite nod. A white glow began to surround them. Warmth surrounded them. He felt all the pain and loneliness leave him.

"You really are an angle." If he had stayed in the world of the living for just a moment longer he would have seen the blush cross the young woman's face.

"That was beautiful Orihime," someone said from behind her. She turned around to see her petite raven haired friend.

"Rukia!" Orihime jumped forward and embraced her friend. "It's been too long."

"It's only been a few months, but it's good to see you too," Rukia struggled to say while in the auburn haired girl's tight embrace. "Now could you kindly let go I'm struggling to breathe here." Orihime quickly let go of the raven haired and began to rub the back of her head.

"Sorry about that. I'm just happy to see you."

"That's alright Orihime." Rukia to a moment to look around the park seeing that the few people that were there had yet to take notice to them. "Maybe it is best he talk somewhere private. I'm not in a gigai at the moment. It would look weird if people saw you talking to yourself."

"My apartment is nearby. We can go there." The two friends took the short walk to the princess' apartment where they could continue their conversation without Orihime looking like a lunatic.

"So you are fully recovered?" Rukia asked looking at her auburn haired friend see that she was back to her enthusiastic old self.

"Yep. It only took a month for me to recover. Tatsuki and Ichigo made sure I got plenty of rest." A distant look came across the young girl's face as she looked back on the care that all of her friends gave her. Rukia took note to something else that came across the princess' face. She decided that she would have some fun with her friend.

"So how are things between you and Ichigo?" A blush quickly crossed Orihime's face.

"Wh… What? There's nothing going on between me and Ichigo." A Cheshire grin crossed Rukia's face.

"I didn't ask if anything was going between you two." If at all possible Orihime's face grew even redder as if her hand had been caught in the cookie jar. "So there is something going on."

"When did you figure it out?" she asked embarrassed.

"The look in your eyes a moment ago gave it away. Besides it wouldn't have taken long for me to figure out."

"What do you mean it wouldn't have taken you long?"

"Oh come on Orihime," she said as if stating the obvious. "We all know that you are in love with him." The blush quickly returned to Orihime's face. "And it was quite clear that Ichigo cares a great deal about you. Hell the two of you were taking way too long to figure your feelings out for each other that we took matters into our own hands." Orihime gave her look to explain what she meant. "Well on those night watches we attentionally paired you two together." She took a moment to see she was making Orihime uncomfortable. "Why are you trying to hide what's going on between you and Ichigo."

"Well… we kind of want to avoid all the hassle we would from everyone if they knew." Rukia looked at her dumbfounded.

"Trust me Orihime; everyone probably knows already." Seeing that Orihime was still a little uncomfortable with her pressing the issue; she decided to change the subject. "So I saw that you still can use your soul reaper abilities." Orihime brightened up at that.

"Yeah I can. Not much. So far I am just able to perform konsōs." Another distant look came across her eyes. "You mind not telling Ichigo that I did that. He gets a little upset when I use any soul reaper abilities. He's afraid that the seal might break."

"Has anything happened?"

"I've been having dreams. They seem to be Hoshi's memories. But I've been having them before I even started using my abilities and the dreams have been few and far in between. I can't remember anything about them; just that I had them."

"Does Ichigo know about them?"

"He does. He thinks that because part of Hoshi was in my soul that fragments of her memories would be there to." A wave of confusion hit Rukia.

"Wait what? What do you mean part of Hoshi was in your soul? And how would Ichigo know?"

"Well when I was in my coma Ichigo got pulled into my inner world by what was left of Hoshi and they had a talk."

"A talk. That's it?"

"That's it." There was an unexpected knock at the door which made them jump. "Who is it?"

"It's me. Ichigo," the voice said from the other side. Orihime got up to open the door completely missing the devilish grin on Rukia's face. "Hey Ichigo," she greeted him when she opened the door. He gave a small peck on the cheek.

"Hey Orihime," he greeted back with a kind smile.

"My my aren't we affectionate today," Rukia spoke up to make her presence known to the orange haired boy. Ichigo went wide eyed at realizing that he just been seen kissing his girlfriend.

"Ru… Rukia, what the hell are you doing here!"

"Just stopped by to say hello. But I see that the two of you are busy so I'll leave you alone." She got up and began to walk out the door. "Have fun you two," she said playfully. She was about takeoff but she remembered one more thing. "Orihime I want to thank you again for saving Renji. I really appreciate it." Orihime gave a kind nod before Rukia left.

"Great, now we aren't going to get a break from the others about this," Ichigo said frustrated. Orihime decide to tell him later that the others probably know already. "You said you wanted to show me something." Orihime quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him.

"Sit," she ordered gently. He did as told and sat on the floor cross-legged. Orihime soon did the same. "Now close your eyes and meditate." He found her request out of the ordinary but he did as asked. He felt a shift in the environment around him. He felt a cool breeze. The floor beneath him felt a little prickly. He could swear he heard a distant constant roar. "Okay you can open your eyes now. Welcome back to my inner world." He looked around and saw that it had change completely from the last time he had been here. There was no fog. He was sitting the grass field but it now had hibiscus blooming all over. The constant roaring had come from a distant waterfall. "Well? What do you think?"

"It's beautiful Orihime." He couldn't deny it. There was so much color and warmth he felt like he would never want to leave. He soon felt the gentle hands of the healer grip his own.

"I thought it would be nice if we had a private date. I honesty couldn't think of any other place; so I thought we could come here." He smiled at her.

"Not a bad idea Hime." They leaned towards each other and gave a passionate kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **There it is; the end. I hope you enjoyed. I know this story isn't as good as others out there. Hopefully I can improve in the future. Like for the sequel I have planned. Not sure when I'll get around to it. I have some other story ideas I would like to get around to. Special thanks to all my readers and reviewers. Once again I hope you enjoyed the story.


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